


Rising From The Ashes

by jusst_you_wait



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Fake AH Crew, Immortal Fake AH Crew, Jeremy centric, M/M, Mythical Fake AH Crew, Slow Burn, but it is not this day, one day i'll learn how tags work, themes of homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21604435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jusst_you_wait/pseuds/jusst_you_wait
Summary: He remembered a flash of light. Then darkness again. There’s a beat, and all of a sudden he felt the air rush into his lungs and he was gasping.I am Jeremy.Jeremy had been alive for a month. In that month he learned to steal, to con, to lie, to kill. He was wary at first, but he quickly realised that this was his only option, unless he wanted to starve or freeze. He did what it took to survive in a world that had been forcefully thrust upon him.-In which the FAHC are all immortal mythical creatures, and Jeremy is a big gay messTM.
Relationships: Alfredo Diaz/Jeremy Dooley, Gavin Free/Michael Jones, Jack Pattillo/Geoff Ramsey, Lindsay Tuggey Jones/Fiona Nova, Trevor Collins/Alfredo Diaz, Trevor Collins/Alfredo Diaz/Jeremy Dooley, Trevor Collins/Jeremy Dooley
Comments: 151
Kudos: 420





	1. Prologue - Awaken

He remembered a flash of light. Then darkness again. There’s a beat, and all of a sudden he felt the air rush into his lungs and he was gasping.   
**_You have awoken._ **

He froze at the strange voice inside his head.

**_I am a Phoenix. I am an ancient spirit with enormous power, and you have been chosen to wield this power. You are my host, my body. We are one and the same._ **

He took this in, and determined that he had no other explanation for the mysterious voice, so he accepted it. 

_ Who am I? _

**_You are no one, not yet. You have just been born again. Your previous body passed, and so we have become a new one._ **

_ Do I have a name? _

**_With every new life comes the opportunity to be called something new. However, you have been Jeremiah for many lives now._ **

He frowned. Jeremiah. He did not like that. Not entirely.

**_You may choose to be something different in this life._ **

There was a moment while he thought, and taking inspiration from the only name he knew, he decided on Jeremy. 

_ I am Jeremy. _

**_Good. Now you must awaken fully. Open your eyes._ **

Jeremy did. He blinked as his vision swam for a moment before settling. The sky above him was inky black, and the moon hung in a dainty crescent. He shifted and felt a crinkle of plastic underneath him, and the smell of waste wafted from below. He was confused by this knowledge of his surroundings that he seemed to possess, with no memory of learning it.

**_You retain some basic knowledge from your earlier lives. The memories too, if you try hard enough._ **

Jeremy considered this but brushed the idea off. He wished to create his own, new memories. There was a suggestion of a chuckle that swam through his consciousness before fading. 

_ I should name you. _

**_Later. For now, you must learn._ ** ****

~

Jeremy had been alive for a month. In that month he learned to steal, to con, to lie, to kill. He was wary at first, but he quickly realised that this was his only option, unless he wanted to starve or freeze. He did what it took to survive in a world that had been forcefully thrust upon him. Curiosity seemed to be one of his defining traits, and he sought out any information about the world around him that he could.

He started with the ancient, driven by a desire to learn where his spirit had come from. The spirit told him lavish tales about the days of old, about the time of the Ancient Greeks, when the spirit was first born. He did his own research too, holed up in internet cafes when he got the chance, learning about ancient beings, and the stories now lost to time, and only believed as legends. The Greek gods particularly captured his interests, and it was from them that he drew inspiration for the name of his spirit. He named the firebird Hephaestus. Jeremy thought the name was genius, but the spirit didn’t seem to agree. However, he quickly tired of the length, and simply referred to the spirit as Heph. 

Once Jeremy had learned all there was about myths and legends, with Heph helping him to understand which were true and which were not, he moved on to the present. He learned that the city he found himself in was called Los Santos, and that it was ruled by a tight-knit gang: the Fake AH crew.

In a city plagued by crime and gangs, where the police force was as corrupt as they come, the Fake AH crew were celebrities. Jeremy was almost surprised by the amount of footage there was of their heists and escapades, and was shocked to learn that the Fakes occasionally filmed themselves; leaving cameras and USBs full of footage for the police to find and distribute to the media and the public. The Fakes were worshipped by many of the other gangs, and Jeremy was in awe of the respect that they commanded.

Jeremy learned a lot about them. He read all the news reports about their extravagant heists, and admired the way they were able to live in luxury despite their criminal records. Heph was interested in them too. The spirit seemed particularly interested when articles mentioned phrases like “Inhuman feats” or “Cheated death”. Jeremy’s curiosity led him to gather any information he could on this infamous crew. While the entire city seemed to know of their existence, Jeremy was hard pressed to find any information actually pertaining to the crew members themselves. No one seemed to even know their real names. Instead, each member of the crew was only ever referred to by a codename. Jeremy made sure he learned as much as possible about each individual member. 

First there was The Kingpin. A man covered in tattoos, always seen barking orders at the rest of the crew. He was protective, though, and had often been said to step in front of the line of fire to defend the other members. Jeremy wasn’t sure how he managed to act as a human shield and continue to live and lead them through even more dangerous stunts. He also seemed to be the mastermind behind their heists, and the main funder of their activities. The amount of times the crew had walked cheerily away from a destroyed vehicle on their first outing with it while The Kingpin stared exasperatedly at the carnage, well, Jeremy had lost count.

The Kingpin’s right hand man went by the name Beardo. A jolly looking man, with glasses and a thick ginger beard, most often found at the wheel of a vehicle or in the cockpit of a plane. While he was the designated driver, and obviously the most talented, Jeremy had still found video evidence of multiple nasty crashes that Beardo and other members had managed to just walk away from. Not knowing how driving worked, Jeremy assumed that his control extended to being able to crash in a way that wouldn’t harm the people inside. Jeremy loved to watch footage of the swooping dives and rolls that Beardo seemed to effortlessly pull off whenever he got his hands on a jet, and the multiple close calls with mountains, telephone poles, buildings, and even the ground left Jeremy breathless.

The Golden Boy confused Jeremy the most. While the other members of the crew seemed at least a little adept in their chosen line of work, The Golden Boy was completely useless. At least that was what Jeremy could tell from any footage he found. The Golden Boy appeared to never be on his own, and mostly could be seen cowering behind Mogar, another of the members. However, Jeremy managed to overhear in one of the shadier bars around town that The Golden Boy was the reason the Fakes were never caught. He was the reason no one could find any information besides the things the Fakes chose to make public. What he lacked in combat prowess, he more than made up for with his ability to work tech. 

Finally, there was Mogar; their weapons man. He had a penchant for explosions, and always provided their main source of firepower. Jeremy was in awe of the weapons he effortlessly wielded, and found the heists that Mogar brought his Minigun to were by far the most entertaining to watch footage of. The man clearly knew what he was doing, and more often than not he was able to save crew members from sticky situations with a few well placed bullets. Although, Jeremy found himself unsure about Mogar’s mental state; concerned for anyone that ran out from exploding buildings with a grin and a manic laugh. 

Heph seemed suspicious of them. The more Jeremy learned, the more information there was that just didn’t add up. Only last month the whole crew was involved in a nasty helicopter crash, where it plummeted from the sky into the side of Mount Chiliad and exploded on impact. Jeremy had watched the footage countless times and still didn’t know how they had walked away without a scratch. None of them had abandoned the falling helicopter, riding it all the way to impact, yet they clambered out of the wreckage totally unharmed. Heph believed this was pretty convincing evidence for the Fakes being some sort of Creature related group. Jeremy was inclined to agree. He had experienced such situations himself in his so far very short life. More than once a robbery had gone wrong and he had ended up with a bullet wound, or a sliced limb. But because he was a Phoenix, life threatening wounds healed overnight. He learned very quickly that he was very hard to kill.

However, it was not impossible.

Jeremy didn’t like to tap into the memories of his past lives. It seemed too intimate, like he was intruding, despite Heph’s assurances otherwise. That didn’t stop the memories bubbling to the surface of his thoughts on their own. Nightmares haunted him in his hours of sleep, ones that were fractured and confusing at first, but became clearer and clearer as they continued, and the pieces fell into place.

He dreamt he was drowning. Sucked under by dark rolling currents. Unable to escape as icy liquid seeped into the core of his being. The searing pain as if his lungs were tearing themselves apart. 

Heph told him this was the only way he could die. The only way he had died. 

Jeremy learned to fear the water.

~

It wasn’t long before Jeremy grew restless. It had been almost two months of living day to day, stealing what he could to get by and learning what was necessary to survive. He was growing discontent with being homeless, and craved a sense of stability. He also craved company.

**_Am I not good enough for you?_ **

Jeremy rolled his eyes at his spirit’s playful teasing. 

_ I love you Heph, but I would like to talk to someone that’s not another part of my own soul for once. _

Heph hummed. Jeremy passively observed as the spirit brought images to the forefront of his memory. He recounted all the footage he had seen while researching the Fakes these past months. Despite their criminal status, and the blood they most definitely had on their hands, there was something appealing about the nature of the tight-knit group. No matter what absurd situation they got themselves into, they always had each other’s backs. No man was ever left behind, they were inseparable. It was almost like they were a family.

**_If they really are Creatures like us, they may be willing to help._ **

Jeremy tried to quell the flood of hope that rushed through him at Heph’s words. 

_ They probably don’t want some lost kid knocking on their door asking for help. I doubt they’d let me even explain before they kicked me to the curb. _

**_Then get their attention. Do something to make them listen._ **

Jeremy paused. That did seem like something he was capable of. If the Fakes were in fact other Creatures, maybe they’d give him a chance to talk if they knew he was like them. Thoughts began to race through his head.

_ Heph, what can we do other than not die? _

**_You forget we are a firebird._ **

Jeremy chuckled, a plan already forming in his mind. 

_ We need to pick up some spray paint. _

~

Jeremy stepped back to admire his handiwork. The wall in front of him was decorated with a simple, stylised, phoenix. His calling card.

**_Please stop referring to it as that._ **

Jeremy huffed and folded his arms.

_ Shut up. It’s cool. _

He got the distinct feeling that someone was rolling their eyes at him, so he childishly poked his tongue out.

**_I still think this is a bad idea. The spray painted phoenixes are far from subtle._ **

_ Heph, that’s exactly the point. I want to Fakes to notice. I want them to know. _

The spirit quieted. He was reminded of his situation when smoke swirled around him and he coughed. Jeremy turned around to glance at the burning building behind him before fleeing. Again, his handiwork. As he approached the park he had come to refer to as ‘home’, a sudden thought stopped him in his tracks.

_ Heph, do you have a physical form? _

**_Yes._ **

_ Why didn’t you tell me? _

**_You never asked._ **

Jeremy supposed the bird had a point. He ambled his way over to the bench he occupied most nights.

_ Can you show me? _

The world around him suddenly seemed to still. Jeremy was frozen as he watched the ground ignite and burn impossibly before it settled, and before him sat a flaming bird. Its feathers looked silky and ethereal, the colours shifting and changing from a fiery red to a molten gold in a transition so smooth it was almost imperceptible. The bird’s beak was short, but clearly powerful, and Jeremy didn't doubt that it could rip the flesh from his bones. Its tail feathers fanned out behind it, and at some point faded into flames, alive and flickering gently in the moonlight.

_ Wow. _

**_I am flattered._ **

Then there was a whoosh, and the bird disappeared. Jeremy tried not to be disappointed but he knew Heph felt it anyway.

**_I draw far too much attention in that form._ **

It made sense, Jeremy supposed. But he still wished he could draw the spirit’s physical form out more often. If only to fuel the illusion that he was not alone. He jumped at the sudden sound of sirens blaring not too far away and then grinned foolishly at the fact that he caused them.

**_And now, we wait._ **

Jeremy nodded as he pulled his jacket tighter around him to provide some shelter from the nip of the cool midnight air. He settled himself down on the bench and prepared for another restless sleep.

_ Now we wait.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of what is shaping up to be a very long fic indeed. The first chapters have been heavily edited and reuploaded and so please let me know if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies!


	2. Chapter 1 - The Fakes

“Again?! Goddammit who is so intent on burning the city down?!” Geoff let his head drop forwards into his hands. He didn’t need this. The issues at the hospital were already enough of a burden, and he still didn’t know who had tipped them off. Now some arsonist was intent on burning their way through a city block, and their only clue was the goddamn phoenix tag. Normally he wouldn’t care too much, but whoever was burning these buildings was encroaching on the Fake’s territory. He let out a groan. “Fine. What’s the good news?”

Jack’s smile could be heard lacing itself around his words when he spoke. 

“Gus said the hospital business had settled and he can bring you blood bags again. You just have to get smaller amounts more frequently; you know how suspicious it is when ten blood bags go missing at once.” There was a pause while the news sunk in, then Geoff was standing up and marching around his desk to the man at the door.

“Jack, you are an angel. I love you.” And before the ginger man could reply, he was scooped up into a hug and his face was peppered with kisses. A laugh escaped between them.

“Yes, Geoff, I know. You’d be long dead without me.” This made Geoff huff out a laugh.

“Don’t I know it. You’re irreplaceable.” His grin was wide as he gazed at the taller man in his arms. Jack smiled back, and they stood in silence for a moment, content to just be in each other’s arms. The quiet was broken by Jack.

“Now, about the arsonist, I had an idea. It might take some of the pressure of all this off you.” Geoff inclined his head to indicate he was listening. “I thought we could send the lads out to do some digging.” 

Geoff hesitated at the thought. Michael and Gavin weren’t exactly the most subtle pair, and they weren’t often sent on recon. But the arsonist seemed more like a mild annoyance than an actual threat, so he supposed it didn’t matter too much. 

“Okay yeah. I’ll let them know.” He paused, thinking, before adding with a laugh, “Hopefully they don’t add to the destruction.” 

~

“Keep up Tinkerbell!” 

Gavin huffed at the nickname and scampered after his companion as Michael charged towards the burnt husk of a former building down the block. When Geoff had proposed the idea of them playing detective, Gavin assumed he’d be the one that was more excited. However, Michael’s loud enthusiasm was quickly proving him wrong. 

“Coming boi!” 

Gavin was happy to take charge of this little side quest. Geoff had been stressed lately - what with everything going on with the hospital - and being able to take something off his shoulders brought Gavin a sense of relief. Besides, investigating a couple burnt up buildings was hardly the most difficult task they’d ever done. The two quickly came to a stop in front of their destination.

“It reeks.” Michael’s face scrunched up in displeasure. He didn’t linger for long before moving towards what once was the alley that ran in between the two buildings. It was a testament to the laziness of the LSPD that the place was left unwatched only three days after the building was set ablaze. Although, Gavin supposed it was easy just to attribute it to gang disputes and move on to more important issues. Michael pushed past the haphazardly placed police tape, attempting to get a better look at the wall of the building beside the chosen target of arson. “Yeah the bird thing is here too.”

Gavin listened as Michael scuffed his feet, clearly deep in thought. The buildings seemed to have a common theme. An empty store up for let, old apartments that hadn’t been inhabited for years, abandoned garages and warehouses. There was not a single casualty. Whatever the reason behind the arson, it clearly wasn’t to cause harm. Michael kicked a rock further into the alleyway.

“Why bother burning buildings with nothing in them?”

Gavin hummed. He was thinking the same thing. The buildings were in neutral territory, no matter how close they were getting to Fake borders, so it couldn’t be someone trying to make life difficult for a gang. However, the slow encroachment towards Fake territory couldn’t be a coincidence. Gavin huffed out a laugh as the answer came to him.

“Michael! They want to get our attention, boi!”

Michael scoffed.

“Well they’ve certainly achieved that. Why though?”

Gavin paused, considering, but eventually shrugged.

Michael continued, “I guess we just have to find them and ask.” He looked around at the scorched rock and burnt beams around them. “Is it worth scoping this place out any further?” He turned towards Gavin again, gesturing vaguely towards the corpse of the building.

“Well, if it is a cry for attention then there has to be more patterns, doesn’t there.” Gavin mused. Michael nodded sagely in response.

“Of course. You wouldn’t want to get someone’s attention only for them to have no way to find you.” 

“Let’s go back and look at the police reports, yeah?”

Michael grunted his agreement and the two hopped back in their car and sped off towards their apartment block. 

~

Gavin slapped a handful of papers down on the wooden table in one of their smaller meeting rooms. Michael groaned.

“This fucking sucks, I hate research.”

Gavin laughed at the other lad, watching as he buried his head in his arms on the table.

“What happened to all the enthusiasm you had before, boi?” The other sighed and pushed himself up.

“Reading police reports is the worst. They never do their job properly, it’s always hard to get the information you want.” Gavin hummed in agreement. He took the top report off their small pile and flipped it to the first page.

“Well, at least we know we’re looking for obvious patterns,” he said. Michael grunted in response. He grabbed the next report on the pile and began looking through. They sat in silence for a moment, only broken by the sound of Michael lazily taking the next report. Gavin, having looked over the main details of the one in his hands, was about to reach for another, when Michael spoke up.

“Hey, what day and time does your report say the fire started at?” Gavin blinked, and looked back down at his report.

“Monday, 1 am. Why?” Gavin looked back up at the lad across from him, whose face was now adorned with a proud grin.

“Same as this one,” he waved the report in his hand, “and this one,” he gestured at the one on the table in front of him. Gavin grinned back.

“Well, that was easy.”

Enthused by his discovery, Michael sat up straighter, and pulled the remaining reports to him.

“So we know when to find them, the next question is where.” Gavin hummed again, thinking over the buildings that had burned down so far. Geoff seemed increasingly stressed about the situation because the fires were getting closer and closer to their territory. In fact, the one burned most recently was only a block away from the area that the Fake AH crew ruled. 

“It’s got to be just within our territory; the last one was too close for them to not attempt it.”

Michael nodded. 

“So I guess we need to find a list of empty buildings just within our borders.” He mused. Gavin pulled his laptop towards him, having brought it into the room earlier, brain already working. The arsonist had burnt buildings in a pretty much straight line so far, coming directly towards their territory from the north. If Gavin’s memory served him right, there was an apartment block right at the northern edge of their area of town that was due for demolition soon. Geoff had been instrumental in proving to the city officials that the building was no longer safe to be living in. He found the information he needed after a quick search. 

“Here. This place has been covered in demolition notices for weeks, they have to have known about it. It fits the type of building they’ve targeted so far.” Michael quickly scanned the page. He nodded slowly, and Gavin knew he was thinking about something else.

“The warehouse that Jack and I cleared out a little while ago is just down the road from here. I think if they aren’t going to go for the apartments, then they’ll try burn that down.” 

“Oh, you’re right, I had completely forgotten,” Gavin frowned, considering, before eventually shrugging. “Well, I think they’re both viable options. I guess whoever goes after them will just have to visit both.” He decided. 

“Well they aren’t very subtle are they. Same day and time every week.” Geoff’s sudden appearance startled the lads who were so involved with their conversation that they hadn’t heard him come in. Geoff had his arms crossed and was leaning over to read the reports on the table. They both turned to him, and Gavin responded.

“Well that’s cuz they want to be found I guess. We think they’re trying to get our attention.” Gavin pushed himself away from the table and spun around to fully face Geoff. “We’ve also narrowed the next target down to two buildings. Michael,” he waited for the aforementioned man to slide his laptop over. “Here. This is one of them.” Geoff peered down at the screen.

“Makes sense, and the other?” This time it was Micahel that answered.

“That warehouse we emptied the other week.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “Do you want to be the one to approach them? Being the boss and all.”

Geoff shook his head. 

“Nah,” he said. “Michael, you can go.” 

Michael nodded, and stuck his tongue out at Gavin, who pouted.

“What do you want me to do with them?” He asked once he’d finished being childish.

Geoff grinned lazily.

“Just make them stop burning down all the damn buildings.”

Michael snorted, leaning back even further to prop his feet up on the table.

“That sounds like code for ‘take them out’ if I’ve ever heard it,” he said.

Geoff laughed.

“I suppose you should see what they want first. If only so we can prove your cry for attention theory.” 

The lads smiled up at the taller man. He pushed the laptop back towards Gavin and stood up straight. 

“Well then, time for you to hunt down this bird.”

~

Something about tonight felt different. Jeremy wanted to put it down to paranoia, but he kept his guard up nonetheless. He looked up at the building in front of him; another warehouse was tonight’s target. This was the first building that was completely within Fake territory, which was probably what was putting him on edge. He shook himself. Now was not the time to get cold feet, he’d been burning buildings for a month and a half now, the Fakes were sure to have noticed. He couldn’t stop now. With renewed confidence, he turned back to the warehouse he had chosen. He had been deliberately obvious about his routine and targets, hoping that if the Fakes wanted to find him, it wouldn’t be too much of a puzzle to solve. Jeremy balled his fists up, channeling his power through his arms to concentrate in his palms. But before he could set about burning anything, Heph stirred and caught his attention.

**_Footsteps._ **

“Well, well, well. ‘Sup little bird.” 

Jeremy slowly turned to face the source of the voice. He came face to face with a figure stepping out of the shadows of the alley. The first thing he noticed was the jacket. It was a familiar, worn brown leather, and if the man had turned around, Jeremy was certain he’d find an angry wolf painted across the back. The sneakers and scruffy jeans did nothing to make the man less intimidating; especially with the way the jacket hung open, conveniently exposing the gun holstered at his hip. He was glowering, and in the dim light of the alley, his dark brown eyes almost seemed to glow.

Mogar. 

_ I guess this is it Heph. _

**_Yes. They seem to have noticed._ **

Jeremy attempted to greet the man, perhaps state his intentions behind burning down the buildings, but all that came out when he tried to talk was: “You’re Mogar.” 

The other man’s face split into a wicked grin.

“Good observation. And you’re the little phoenix that’s been burning down the city, yeah?”

Jeremy swallowed, trying not to let the other man see his fear. The tone Mogar had spoken in was bordering on low growl; a clear threat. Still, there was a rush of excitement when the intimidating man referred to him as ‘Phoenix’. 

“Yes. That’s me.”

“You aren’t very subtle.” 

Jeremy felt Heph scoff at him and he winced.

“No. I wasn’t trying to be.”

The other man shifted his weight slightly. He seemed to contemplate for a second, his hand flexing where it rested on the holster of his gun. 

“Why? Why put yourself out there as an easy target when you know who you are messing with?”

Jeremy steeled himself. This was his opportunity, probably the only one he would get. He had to choose his words carefully.

“I wanted you guys to find me. Figured that was easier than trying to find you. I’m not too worried about the consequences.” The reply came quickly.

“Then you’re an idiot.”

Jeremy only shrugged in response. He let the other man consider; he wanted to know where he stood before he proposed his big, and dangerous, idea. Eventually, the other man sighed.

“You have to stop this. Or I will personally make it stop. For good.” 

Jeremy took a deep breath.

“Take me to your boss and I will.” 

There was a moment where Mogar froze. Then he growled, and Jeremy began to panic as he raised his gun.

_ Heph we can deflect a bullet to the head right? _

**_Not entirely._ **

_ What do you mean not entirely? _

Heph said nothing, but Jeremy felt the spirit pooling his energy.

_ Heph what does that mean? _

Before Jeremy got an answer there was a bang as the gun was fired. Time seemed to slow as he felt Heph send the pooled energy directly to his skull. His ears started to ring and, as if emanating from beneath his skin, a golden glow began to appear, temporarily blinding him to the movements of the man in front of him. Then there was a sudden impact, followed by a searing pain. 

The bullet fell to the floor in front of him with a small clink that seemed to echo in the silence. 

“Ow! Motherfucker!”

“What the fuck.” Mogar’s signature growl had disappeared from his voice in the wake of his surprise. Jeremy forgot about the immediate threat as he dropped to his knees and clutched at his forehead.

“Jesus, that hurt! Fuck!” He heard footsteps approach him, but couldn’t bring himself to care. Mogar nudged him and he responded with a groan.

“Get up.”

“Christ dude, give a guy a second to recover, you just shot me in the fucking head!” Jeremy knew he should probably think through the consequences of speaking like that to Mogar, but he was in far too much pain to really care. Thankfully, Mogar only snorted.

“And yet you’re still kicking. Come on phoenix, you’re getting what you want after all.”

~

The car ride was silent. Jeremy was too busy focused on his splitting headache to be bothered paying attention to where they were going. However, he did steal glances at the fierce man in the driver's seat. He knew everything there was to know about the Fakes, but he had never seen any of them this close. The man had a scary presence, and Jeremy noted that the faint red glow in his eyes was there even when his face was in shadow.

_ Definitely something funky. _

**_You are correct. He is not human._ **

Jeremy brushed his fingers across his aching forehead and winced at the lump that had already formed. 

**_It will be gone tomorrow you know this._ **

A sigh escaped his lips, briefly drawing the other man’s attention. He knew he would be fine but it still hurt. A lot. Jeremy sent a glare towards the man beside him.

“... Sorry.”

Jeremy huffed.

“I guess I kind of deserved it.” They fell into silence again. Still busy trying to ignore his headache, Jeremy almost missed when Mogar mumbled under his breath, 

“Normally I don’t have to apologise for shooting someone in the head.” Jeremy knew it was probably not said for him, and that the other man was simply thinking allowed, but he let out a harsh bark of laughter anyway. He quickly shut up when he was thrown a caustic glare. Jeremy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but was thankfully saved by Mogar pulling into a large garage.

“We’re here.”

~

Michael knew the others would be waiting for him; they all kept odd and irregular sleeping patterns. The quiet ding of the elevator announced his arrival, and as he stepped into their living area he could feel three pairs of eyes watching him. With a nod of his head he motioned for the arsonist to follow.

“I’m back.” He was greeted with a stunned silence. Geoff was the first to break it.

“Who the fuck is this?” Michael mustered as much patience as he could.

“This is our phoenix.” He felt the young arsonist shift beside him.

“And why, may I ask, is he here?” Geoff was glaring daggers at him by now.

“I shot him in the head.” With this, Michael gestured to the nasty bruise that had already begun to purple across the forehead of his companion. He was once again met with silence. Sure he had their attention, he continued. “I told him to stop burning shit, he asked to be brought here, I obviously wasn’t going to do that - shut up, let me finish - so I thought I’d just take him out. Makes our lives easier, right?” This time it was the short man beside him that was glaring his way. Michael ignored him. “However, the asshole glows gold, and instead of going through his head, the bullet bounces off and falls at his feet.” The gaze of the others slowly shifted to the arsonist. Michael resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this tennis match of uncomfortable staring. 

“So you brought him here? To the goddamn penthouse? Where we live?!” The sharp edge to Geoff’s voice made his anger crystal clear. Michael growled and the arsonist flinched.

“Boss, he survived being shot in the head. He’s clearly like us! Besides, if the guy can’t die, no amount of threatening or violence was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. Which was to come here. ” 

Geoff leapt up, argument ready to tumble from his lips but was stopped by Jack’s hand on his shoulder.

“That doesn’t mean we can trust him.” Jack was attempting to calm the situation but Michael knew he wasn’t happy either. Honestly, even Michael himself wasn’t sure why he felt like the young arsonist was safe to bring home. But he had come pretty far in life by trusting his instincts, so he was committed to his decision. There seemed to be a silent conversation happening between Jack and Geoff, so Michael turned towards Gavin, hoping someone was on his side. Gavin was staring at the young arsonist with curiosity, and it was his voice that broke the tense silence.

“What’s your name?” The young man looked like a deer in the headlights when everyone’s attention whipped back to him. His eyes flicked to Michael who inclined his head to encourage him.

“Jeremy.” His voice was quiet but steady. It was Jack that spoke next.

“What are you?” At this, Jeremy seemed to perk up.

“A Phoenix.”

Michael snorted at his continued lack of subtlety. Geoff sighed and some of the tension seemed to drain from his shoulders.

“Should have guessed.” The room went quiet as Geoff began to pace. Michael simply watched as he pulled at his hair before letting out a defeated groan. He turned back to the arsonist. “Fine. Why are you here?” Jeremy’s demeanor immediately changed again. He curled in on himself in a way that made him appear like a lost child.

“I have nowhere else to go.”

Jack’s face softened and he seemed to make a decision. With a brief glance to Geoff, he stepped forward to direct the Phoenix to a couch. Jeremy let himself be led, Jack’s natural kind aura acting as a soothing balm.

“How old are you Jeremy?” There was a pause as the boy seemed to gather his thoughts.

“Do you… Do you guys know how phoenixes work?” Jeremy was met with blank faces, and Jack shook his head. “Okay this is going to sound weird.”

Jeremy could feel Heph urging him on and it gave him the confidence to continue.

“I’m three months old.” He let out a laugh at the stunned expressions he received. The blond man that had asked his name couldn’t help but point out the obvious.

“But you look to be in your 20s! How does that work?” Jeremy grinned at him.

“Well, this me is three months old. Part of me is centuries older. I’m uh, kind of merged with this spirit. We share the same body and stuff. My spirit’s been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks apparently. I’m sure you all know about Phoenixes being able to reincarnate. That’s what happens to me, to us. And when we reincarnate, we take the form of the age at which we fully matured in our first life. Apparently that’s similar across a lot of Creatures.” Jeremy paused. He knew it was a lot of information to take in, and wanted to give the others an opportunity to ask questions. It was Mogar that spoke up.

“But you didn’t die when I shot you.” Jeremy gave him a wry smile and continued.

“No, we’re pretty hard to kill, which you um, yeah, discovered. I have healing abilities and also, because of the firebird thing, I make a good arsonist.” Once again, it was the blonde man beside him that spoke when he finished talking.

“So there’s another being inside your body?” Jeremy nodded.

_ Hey Heph can you do the appearing thing again? _

The room stilled and there was a whoosh of flame that burst from Jeremy’s shoulder, and settled into the form of a flaming bird.

“This is Hephaestus, or Heph.” That earned him a snort from Mogar, and he smiled sheepishly. “I chose that name.”

**Greetings**

Jeremy watched as shock and confusion once again adorned the faces of the men around him. He assumed that Heph had extended the greeting to all of them and supposed they were not used to an extra voice inside their mind. 

“So you hear that all the time?” Mogar asked, surprised. “Doesn’t it get annoying?” Jeremy felt Heph shuffle on his shoulder and turn a beady gaze to the man that had spoken. He quickly stepped in.

“I haven’t known any different. And Heph isn’t bad company.” Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Mogar grunted. The room once again returned to silence. 

“Aw Geoff, we can keep him right?” The man who he assumed was Geoff, turned towards the dirty blonde who had spoken from his perch on the couch. Geoff let out a large groan when he saw the puppy dog look on the boy’s face.

“Fine. I guess he can stay for the night. Looking after magical strays seems to be my job.” Jeremy felt his spirits rise and a smile creep onto his face. The dirty blonde leapt up with a noise reminiscent of a squawk, and bounded over to Jeremy.

“Allo Jeremy, I’m Gavin.” The man spoke with a british accent and Jeremy felt Heph drawing on his knowledge of the Fakes to match them to their codenames. Giving the man a quick scan, Jeremt took in his messy blonde hair, gaudy gold jewellery, and elegant blue clothing. Heph came to the same conclusion as he did. 

**_He is the Golden Boy._ **

“That there is Jack,” he waved towards the large ginger man with an impressive beard, decked out in a garish hawaiian shirt, and a pair of fashionable glasses perched on his nose.

**_Beardo._ **

“You’ve already kind of met Michael,” Jeremy turned towards the man he came with, who gave him a half smirk.

**_Mogar._ **

“And, this is Geoff!” With a final flourish, Gavin gestured to the man that seemed to be in charge. His face was adorned with maintained, but still scruffy, facial hair, and he was dressed in a full suit; Jeremy wasn’t quite sure which century it looked to be from.

**_The Kingpin._ **

Jeremy watched as Geoff extended a heavily tattooed hand out to him. He frowned, confused as to what it meant.

**_Shake it._ **

Ah, a handshake. Jeremy stuck out his hand and it was clasped in a firm grip.

“Good to meet you kid.” Jeremy beamed at the welcome. “However, you understand that for precautions sake we gotta keep a watch on you until we deem you trustworthy.” He nodded vigorously, happy to accept any terms that allowed him to stay. Geoff turned to the man next to him and continued, “Michael will be in charge of that.”

Before the other man could protest, Geoff continued once again “No complaints, you brought him here, so he’s your responsibility.” Jeremy tried not to let out an incredulous laugh at the childish grumble that Mogar let out. This was certainly a different side to one of the city’s most infamous criminals. Geoff just rolled his eyes in response.

“Go show him to a guest room. Dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! And thank you to all the wonderful people that left kudos and all the nice comments I got on the first chapter. It means the world! 
> 
> Any mistakes are my own so apologies if I have missed some.
> 
> Feel free to come yell at me on [tumblr](https://jusst-you-wait.tumblr.com/), I do sometimes post extra headcanons on there too!


	3. Chapter 2 - A Place to Call Home

Jeremy quietly followed as Michael marched him down the hall. He was still processing the fact that he was currently in the Fakes’ penthouse and had been invited to stay the night. It didn’t seem real.

**_I can assure you it is real._ **

_ Will you stop teasing me? Y’know, I sort of get why the others wouldn’t want another voice in their head. _

He felt Heph laughing and rolled his eyes. Jeremy continued down the corridor behind Michael until he stopped at a door and turned.

“This is where you can sleep. Do you have any other belongings we can collect?” Jeremy’s head dropped and he shook his head. Michael’s posture softened slightly. “Alright. Well, come on.” He pushed inside the room and left the door open for Jeremy. “There’s a shower in the ensuite through there, go use it. Leave your clothes out and I’ll get them washed. I’ll grab you something you can wear in the meantime. Although,” Michael paused to look him up and down. “I doubt it’ll fit very well.” Jeremy blushed, suddenly very aware of his short stature. He tried to ignore the rising heat and mumbled quietly:

“Thank you for being so kind.” 

Michael scoffed at that.

“Thank the boss. Now go get clean.”

Jeremy waited until the other man had left the room, probably on a quest for clothes, before he stepped into the bathroom and stripped off. He removed his many layers of clothing, grimey and torn in a few places, and his undershirt stained with blood. He balled most of it up into a pile but left his coat with him. The pockets were laden with the few possessions he had. He cracked open the bathroom door just enough to kick the clothes ball out, and quickly shut and locked it. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Scars ran across the length of his torso, crisscrossing in awkward intersections. Heph had told him they were from his first life. Jeremy hadn’t had the guts to ask what happened. He turned away and assessed the shower in front of him. 

Heph made sure he looked after his body, so he had been in a shower before, but never one this decadent. His showers were quick ones in the dingey bathrooms of shabby hotels - when he was able to scrape enough money together to rent a room for a night. This shower was spotless. The showerhead seemed to have multiple settings, but Jeremy didn’t dare touch it. After a moment of fiddling with and adjusting the handle, he set it to a steady, scorching spray. He then faced his next problem. Lining the shelf on the shower wall was an array of colourful bottles. Jeremy had no idea why there were so many different ones or what they all did. Why did one shower need so many bottles? Where was the bar of soap that he was used to using for everything? He grabbed a bottle at random.

_ Heph… a little help? _

Jeremy waited for a response. And waited a little more. And a second more, before groaning in frustration.

_ Gee thanks for abandoning me. _

He turned back to the bottle in his hand. 

_ Body wash, sounds simple enough. _

He poured some on his hand and quickly rubbed it all over his body. Stepping back under the spray he rinsed himself clean and grinned to himself.

_ Mission accomplished. _

He faced the wall again. There were still five more bottles on the shelf. Jeremy crouched down to read the labels better.

_ Both of these are shampoo… why are there two of the same thing? This is so confusing… _

Thankfully it was at that point that Heph decided to help him out. 

**_That’s for hair._ **

Jeremy huffed.

_ Thanks for all your help, Heph. _

He felt his spirit smirk in response.

**_Don’t forget to wash your beard._ **

~

Jeremy eventually stepped out of the shower squeaky clean. He felt he’d done a pretty good job all things considered; he’d only knocked everything off the shelf once, which he prayed no one had heard. Once wrapped tightly in a towel he found on the rack, he unlocked the door and opened it a crack to peer out into the room. It appeared empty so he pushed the door open a little more and looked down. As Michael had promised, his dirty clothes had vanished, and in their place sat a tidy pile of folded clothes. He snatched them up and pulled them back into the bathroom. 

Michael had also said the clothes might not fit, and he was right. The jeans fit well around his waist, but the ends bunched at his ankles, so he had to roll them up. The shirt was pulled slightly too tight across his broad chest, but hung well past the beltline of his jeans. He snorted at his reflection.

_ I look ridiculous. _

**_You shall have to cope. They have shown you great generosity._ **

Jeremy, resigned to the fact that Heph was right, scooped up his coat and towel, and left the bathroom. He dumped the coat on the bed and hesitated about where he should leave the towel. After a moment’s thought he decided he would just ask, and wandered out of the bedroom and down the hall Michael had lead him.

“Geoff, the Phoenix has no home, no family, nothing. You know we can’t just leave him.”

Jeremy froze as Jack’s voice drifted out from the sitting room they were in. 

“I know, I know. I’m just worried. What if he is dangerous?” This time it was Geoff’s voice and Jeremy’s heart fell. He knew it was a lot asking to be brought to the Fake’s hideout. He was surprised that Mogar had agreed, well, in a sense. So, although disappointed, he was prepared to face a reality where he was kicked back onto the street again. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try his damn hardest to stay by proving with worth and trustworthiness. But before he could do anything, Mogar cut in.

“I think he’s trustworthy. He could have tried to kill me multiple times while I was bringing him here, but he didn’t. He could have burnt down buildings with people in, but he didn’t. I think he’s just looking for a purpose, others like him, people that understand the shit he’s going through. You know our ‘death defying’ feats are public knowledge, you know that Creatures like us are subconsciously drawn to each other. I say we let him stay. His abilities could be useful. You’ve been on the lookout for more help anyway.” Jeremy was stunned by the way that Michael defended him; the man seemed hostile at first impression, but perhaps he was wrong. He heard Geoff let out a long sigh.

“You’re right. Fine he can stay. But if anyone gets stabbed, it’s on you.” It was at this point that Heph nudged him to reveal himself.

“Sorry to interrupt, and also sorry for listening in a bit. But um, Michael’s right. I don’t really have anything, and you guys seem to have everything. And also yeah, I kind of guessed you weren’t human. That’s why I came to you.” He fidgeted under Geoff’s intense stare before the older man smiled a weary smile. 

“Alright kid, you can stay.” He said. Jeremy grinned back then turned to give Michael a thankful smile. The other man shrugged, suddenly looking a little bit awkward.

“I’m going to go sleep,” he said, and with that, he left. Jack smiled at Jeremy.

“I think we should all get some sleep,” the ginger man said. “We’ll talk more in the morning.” 

Jeremy moved to walk away before suddenly remembering why he had come out here in the first place. He turned back to the two men and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um, what would you like me to do with the towel?” He raised the item slightly, frozen in his moment of uncertainty. Jack’s face lit up with kind mirth, and he reached out to take the towel from Jeremy.

“Here. I’ll put that in the wash. Goodnight Jeremy.”

Kicking himself for being so awkward, Jeremy gave Jack a thankful smile before heading back to the room he had been given.

**_Do not berate yourself, you’re coping very well for one so new to life._ **

Jeremy snorted. 

_ Thanks Heph. _

He flicked off the light switch and climbed into the bed. Immediately, he was overcome with drowsiness as the cushiony mattress enveloped his being. A contented sigh escaped his lips and he drifted to sleep.

There were no nightmares that night.

~

Jeremy awoke to the sound of distant squawking, and a pleasant aroma invading his senses. He sat up, momentarily confused by his surroundings, until he remembered that he had finally achieved his only goal in his so far short life. A rush of joy filled him and he quickly pulled on the jeans lent to him last night and made his way to the origin of the smells and sounds.

“Jack, please can I have some now!” The distinct British accent of the Golden Boy- no, Gavin, was the first thing that greeted him as he wandered into the kitchen.

“Gavin, no. I already told you that Jeremy gets to eat first, the poor thing probably hasn’t had a decent meal in a while.”

Jeremy chose that moment to announce his arrival. “Actually, I don’t think I even know what a decent meal is. What are you making? I haven’t seen it before.”

Jack turned to him with a face full of surprise, before it morphed back into its usual kind smile. However, before he could speak, he was cut off by another round of squawking to Jeremy’s left.

“Wot?! You’ve never had pancakes?!”

Pancakes… Jeremy rolled the word over in his mind. He glanced back over to the food Jack was currently plating, and felt Heph’s presence jump within him.

**_Tagenites!_ **

He let a laugh escape his lips.

“No, I’ve never had pancakes, but Heph seems to be very excited. Called them tagenites.” The Greek pronunciation rolled off his tongue like it was his first language, and he watched Gavin’s face light up. 

“You speak Greek?”

Jeremy shrugged. 

“I speak any language my past lives have learned. Greek was our first and it’s Heph’s native tongue.” Gavin seemed to bounce in his seat with excitement.

“Michael’s parents were Greek!”

**_That explains his mild amusement at your poor choice in name for me then._ **

Jeremy chose to ignore his spirit and instead sent Gavin a small smile. The blonde then gestured to the seat on his right. 

“Here, come sit. Jack is the most amazing cook! I can’t believe you’ve never had pancakes before. These are going to change your life.”

Listening to the excited Brit, Jeremy felt a cozy warmth spread throughout his body. The man had seemed to completely accept Jeremy already, and the feeling was new, but definitely not unpleasant. He looked around the kitchen, gaze settling on Jack and the gentle roll of his eyes at Gavin’s chattering, and couldn’t quash the hope bubbling inside of him that this could soon become a constant. Heph shared his feelings, seeming to gain great pleasure from being in the company of other Creatures.

“Here, Jeremy.”

He was broken from his musings when Jack pushed a plate towards him. On it was probably the most delicious looking meal Jeremy had ever seen. A stack of what he assumed to be pancakes sat in front of him. The pancakes themselves were thick and golden, in a neat little pile of three. But that wasn’t the only thing on the plate. A dollop of cream sat on top, but it was not like any cream Jeremy had seen, and sat firm but fluffy on top of the stack. On top of this, sat a handful of bright red strawberries, a fruit that he had yet to see in person. His wonder mounted further when he noticed a golden liquid oozing down the stack from where it had been poured on top, but Jeremy was too excited to eat to wonder what it could be. Suddenly remembering the manners Heph had tried to drill into him, he looked up at Jack, hoping to find some sort of indication that he could dig in. Jack was already watching him, and when their eyes met, he gave Jeremy a kind smile and a nod. It was all the permission Jeremy needed. He quickly scooped up his utensils and cut off a huge chunk of pancake, shoving it hungrily into his mouth. Jeremy couldn’t stop the moan that followed. Gavin let out a giggle beside him, and Jack’s smile turned proud. Jeremy made quick work of his mouthful in order to express his gratitude.

“This is amazing Jack. Thank you so much!” He paused, suddenly self conscious of his naivety. “Um, what’s the sweet liquid thing?”

Jack let out a bright laugh at Gavin’s ensuing squawk.

“Jeremy! Have you never had maple syrup either?! You poor thing!”

Jeremy blushed but let out a breath of laughter all the same. “You forget that I’m only three months old.”

“Leave him alone Gavin, let him eat.”

Jack stepped in on Jeremy’s behalf, allowing him to continue eating the delicious meal in front of him.

Once Jeremy had eaten so much that he could barely move, he decided to voice his curiosity about the others.

“So, Gavin, if this isn’t too invasive for me to ask of course, what are you?” Jeremy watched as Gavin immediately sat up straighter and puffed his chest out. 

“Watch this.”

Jeremy waited in anticipation as Gavin seemed to glow. Not with light, but with an almost ethereal haze. Then, as though slowly unfurling from his shoulder blades, two beautiful wings appeared behind Gavin. Jeremy’s mouth fell open as he watched. The wings were almost as tall as Jeremy himself, and looked like they were made of gossamer. The pattern, intricately weaved through each wing, resembled that of a butterfly or a moth, but not any that Jeremy had ever seen before.

**_Fae_ ** **.**

The look on Gavin’s face was one of utter pride. Clearly he enjoyed showing off. Jeremy grinned.

“So you’re Fae?”

Gavin nodded quickly before pausing. 

“Wait, you said you’ve only been around for three months. Have you met another Fae?” 

Jeremy squirmed in his seat before steeling himself.

“I can see the memories of my past selves I guess. I don’t like doing it, it kind of feels like I’m prying. But Heph has made me see things that are of use. So I know about the Creatures my past selves have known, or had knowledge of. It’s handy sometimes.”

Jack nodded in understanding, and opened his mouth as if to say something, before Gavin cut him off once again.

“Oh! That’s cool! So do you know about the Amddiffynwr clans?” 

Jeremy didn’t recognise the word, and quickly sought out Heph’s knowledge instead. 

**_I do not know of such a clan. Although the word means ‘protector’._ **

Seeing the confused look on Jeremy’s face, Gavin began to explain anyway.

“There aren’t many more around, circumstances mean we aren’t required any more. But years and years ago we were a part of a long tradition.” Gavin seemed to swell with pride. “My parents were head of our clan, and we were entrusted with the life of a young Dragon. There weren’t many left then, and there are even fewer around now, but way back in the day, Dragons and Fae were some of the closest of Creatures like us. Dragons used to protect Fae clans,” his expression darkened, “until humans learned how to kill Dragons.” At this, Jeremy frowned. He knew that despite their immortality, all Creatures could be killed if you tried hard enough, and Heph had told him about the Dragon slaughter in the Middle Ages. But, just like Phoenixes could only be killed by drowning, other Creatures also had very specific circumstances that could lead to their demise. Even Heph didn’t know how humans had managed to kill so many Dragons so quickly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ask Gavin how Dragons could die though, it seemed like a sensitive subject. After taking a deep breath, Gavin continued talking.

“With the Dragons in danger, we had to step up to protect them in return. Humans have never been very good at navigating Fae traps.” Gavin paused to give Jeremy a wink. “Anyway, our clan raised a young Dragon in secret. Until the Fae wars broke out. It was terrible, our clan was targeted by all sorts of nasty Fae. We tried to fight them off for as long as possible, but eventually we were ambushed. My parents told me to take the Dragon and run so they could buy us some time. We got out alright, but no one else did.” Gavin paused again, taking a moment to collect himself. After a few seconds, his somber expression was taken over by a small smile. “Thankfully the Dragon was my best friend, so I wasn’t alone. And now, all these years later, he’s my boyfriend! I don’t know what we would have done without each other.”

Jeremy had listened to Gavin’s story intently. He was so curious to find out what lives the others had lead, fueled by the current lack in his. However, hearing Gavin mention a romantic interest was surprising and he felt his eyebrows rise without his consent. Jeremy’s curiosity always seemed to get the better of him, and he couldn’t help but blurt out,

“What was the Dragon’s name?”

Gavin smiled a fond smile at this.

“His name is Michael.”

Suddenly it all clicked for Jeremy. The way the reports claimed Michael also had an affinity for fire. The way they always made him sound like a self sacrificing hero, protective till the end. The way him and Gavin seemed to always stick together in battle.

“Michael’s a Dragon! That makes so much sense!” 

Heph had told him a lot about Dragons, they were a common sight when the spirit was young. However, Heph hadn’t heard of or seen one since the Middle Ages. Jeremy enjoyed the stories that Heph had told him, and knowing that one of the Fakes was a Dragon sent a rush of excitement through his veins. Dragons were incredibly powerful Creatures. Jeremy turned to Gavin again, ready to find out more, when he noticed a slightly perplexed look on the blonde’s face. Immediately, he panicked.

“Did I say something weird? I’m sorry, I don’t talk to a lot of people.”

Gavin jumped, shaking his head wildly.

“No! No, you didn’t say anything wrong. I just wasn’t expecting you to hear that I have a boyfriend and not react at all. A lot of people aren’t so… calm about it.”

This time it was Jeremy’s turn to look confused.

“Why would I react? I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Jeremy turned to Jack for some sort of guidance, but the other man was frowning as if he was just as confused. Jeremy suddenly felt very lost, and very dumb. Gavin started to speak, and the disbelief in his voice only upset Jeremy more.

“Jeremy, have you not heard of homophobia?”

Jeremy could feel his face ignite with a kind of fire he couldn’t control. When he was finally able to speak, his voice was merely a shameful whisper.

“No, is that… okay?”

Internally, he turned to Heph for help and comfort, but the spirit had been oddly silent since the matter was brought up. Jeremy hunched his shoulders forward in an attempt to make himself smaller. He knew he would ruin his chance to be with the Fakes somehow, he just didn’t know it was going to be over something as stupid as his ignorance. A hand landed hard on his shoulder and he jumped. When he turned around to see who it was, he found himself looking up at the leader of the Fakes. 

“Gavin, Jeremy is very new to this world. Don’t be so mean about it, idiot.” Geoff’s tone was teasing, but there was a hard edge to it, and a stern glint in his eye that Jeremy didn’t miss. The hand on his shoulder gave a light squeeze before releasing him. Jeremy watched as Gavin sputtered in shock and turned back to him with a devastated look.

“I’m sorry Jeremy, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just kind of jealous that you’ve never had to deal with bad people.”

Jeremy was shocked by the apology. He couldn’t bring himself to be upset by the matter anymore when Gavin looked like a kicked puppy. His hand found its way to the back of his neck; a habit he had retained from his previous lives, according to Heph. 

“It’s fine Gavin. It’s kind of my fault for not trying to learn through my past memories.” And just like that, the tension disappeared. Jeremy realised that while he was stewing in his puddle of shame, the other members of the Fakes had found their way to the kitchen. Probably following the enticing aromas just as he had done. A silence had settled around them, and Jeremy looked around at the gathered crew. He still couldn’t quite believe that he was here with them. Geoff was the first to speak up again.

“Sorry to draw you away from an enthralling conversation,” Gavin tried to protest the obvious sarcasm, but Geoff cut him off. “But I think we have some matters to discuss.” With this, he looked pointedly at Jeremy, who immediately jumped up from where he was seated. Geoff beckoned him to follow with a tilt of his head, and lead them all back to the living area. Jeremy didn’t fail to notice that one of the armchairs had been positioned so that all other chairs were angled towards it, and he assumed that was his intended seat. Tentatively, he sat down. Once the others were all seated, Geoff cleared his throat.

“Why are you here, Jeremy?”

Jeremy knew this question was coming, had prepared himself for it even. He took a deep breath.

“Well, I know I haven’t really been around for long, but I retain all my skills from previous lives, so I kind of have centuries worth of experience when it comes to theft and stealth and hand-to-hand combat.” He paused for another breath. “My last life was really into gymnastics too, hence the upper body strength. I haven’t touched a gun in this life yet, but Heph assures me that I’ve been shooting guns since they were invented so I’m sure I’ll pick it up. I’m a quick learner. I really think I’ll be of use to you guys-” Before he could continue rambling, Geoff cut him off. 

“That’s not what I’m asking. What do you want?”

This question threw Jeremy off. What did he want? He hadn’t thought about that past a pull to be a part of the Fakes. Heph sent a rush of emotion through him that he recognised as what he had felt earlier. 

**_Belonging._ **

He knew what he wanted.

“A home.”

Everyone’s eyebrows shot up, clearly surprised by the answer. Jeremy began to panic, fearing he had been too bold, and quickly tried to explain himself. “I mean, I just want a purpose, I don’t really have one. I- I just want to belong somewhere.”

Geoff sighed, stood up, and began to pace the room, clearly deep in thought. All eyes were on him, and Jeremy felt like he couldn’t breathe. Eventually, Geoff stopped pacing and turned to face him.

“You’re going to have to earn your keep here, you know that right?”

Jeremy nodded vigorously. Geoff continued.

“And if you ever,  _ ever _ cross us, you know there will be hell to pay, yes?”

Again, Jeremy nodded. Geoff ran a hand down his face and paused. Jeremy desperately tried to squash the hope that was quickly rising within him, but it was a pointless attempt and he was sure it showed on his face. Eventually, Geoff seemed to make up his mind. He turned to face Jeremy with a half smile.

“Fine. Welcome to the crew, kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the best friends ever, the wonderful and talented [KeeningThoughts](https://keeningthoughts.tumblr.com/) did a fantastic drawing of Fae Gavin and his beautiful wings which you can see [here!](https://keeningarts.tumblr.com/post/636272129134002176/fahc-gavin-for-jusst-you-wait-from-her-fic-rising)  
> As always, thank you for reading, and you are most welcome to come yell at me on [tumblr](https://jusst-you-wait.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 3 - Acceptance

_ BANG! _

Jeremy hadn’t shot a gun before. Not in this life anyway. He’d definitely been on the nasty end of a barrel though, and while it wasn’t fatal, it didn’t promise anything good for him. The deafening crack was still enough to startle him, especially when the noise emanated from a gun barely five feet from his head. Geoff was keeping his promise of making sure Jeremy was useful, and, unsurprisingly, this included getting someone to teach him how to handle a gun. 

“Easy as that.”

The voice beside him reminded him he was not alone and Jeremy turned to face the other man. Michael was apparently still on babysitting duty, and he’d brought Jeremy to the firing range for lessons. It had been a few days since Jeremy had been accepted into the crew, but the man beside him still made him slightly nervous. Especially because he was currently demonstrating how to fire a gun. Michael had already tried to kill him once and that was plenty enough reason for Jeremy to feel on edge.

“Phoenix. Are you even listening?”

_ Shit. _

“Um yeah, just point at the target and pull the trigger right?” Jeremy had actually been paying attention for most of the lesson. “And don’t forget to turn the safety off. It’s uh…” He leaned over the gun that was still in Michael’s hands and gestured to a small switch. “That thing.” This got him a grunt in response.

“Alright. Your turn then.” 

Jeremy gave a small nod and tentatively took the gun from Michael’s outstretched hands. It was heavier than he expected and he had to readjust his grip accordingly. The metal was cool and hard under his fingertips, and despite the lack of practice, the shape of the gun felt almost familiar. So focused on the gun, Jeremy almost didn’t realise that Michael had begun to circle around him, analysing the way he held the rifle. He poked Jeremy in the shoulder.

“Make sure you have the stock of the gun pressed right into your shoulder to absorb the force of the recoil.” There was a pause as Jeremy shuffled his grip. “Okay, good. Alright, you’re good to go.” Michael stepped back and folded his arms, watching Jeremy with an unreadable expression. Jeremy felt the gun start to slip, and realised his hands were slick with sweat. 

**_You need to learn to control your nerves or they are going to get the better of you._ **

_ What if they kick me out because I can’t shoot? _

**_You haven’t even tried, yet. Relax. Focus._ **

Jeremy gripped the gun tighter. He pushed all of his concerns away and focused on the target in front of him. 

_ Just like Michael said. Breathe in… _

His finger on the trigger tensed, ready to squeeze.

_ And out. _

He pulled the trigger. 

The noise was deafening, and the jolt of the weapon in his arms caught him off guard. But when Jeremy opened his eyes, after reflexively closing them, he couldn’t help but let out a surprised bark of laughter.

“Hey, I hit it! Heph did you see that!” 

Heph’s ensuing eye roll was almost tangible.

**_It is unsurprising. You will have retained muscle memory from your previous lives._ **

Jeremy huffed.

“Not even going to let me have this one, are you buddy.” The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him reminded Jeremy of his current situation. He whipped around to see an amused smirk adorning Michael’s face. Heat rose in his cheeks as he realised he had been speaking to Heph aloud.

“Good shot.” The other man’s voice held a tone of surprise. “But that might have been a fluke. Try again.” Michael took another step back, waiting for Jeremy to repeat his performance. The gun in his hands felt a little bit lighter as Jeremy turned back to the target.

_ Alright. Here we go. _

~

It didn’t take long before Jeremy was nailing the centre of the target with each bullet. Michael had pointed out that a stationary target in a firing range was incomparable to the real thing, but he had at least seemed impressed with the speed at which Jeremy had dialed in his aim. The gun in his hands clicked, signalling an empty clip, and he turned back to Michael. By this point, the other man had taken up position against the back wall, arms loosely folded across his chest as he watched Jeremy from afar. He pushed himself forward when Jeremy looked over. 

“Hey, not bad for your first time,” Michael said. He was smiling, and a wave of relief washed over Jeremy. Knowing that Michael, who had been the most standoffish with Jeremy so far, was happy with his abilities made him feel much more secure in his prospective position with the crew. Michael’s smile curved into a mischievous grin and he held out his hand for the gun. Jeremy passed it over and stepped back, watching Michael replace the magazine with practiced ease. The auburn haired man took position in front of a target beside the one Jeremy had been using, and threw a quick glance at Jeremy.

“My turn,” he declared. It was all the warning Jeremy got before Michael unloaded the entire clip into the target. Every single bullet hit the target dead centre, as if the force of the gun jumping with every fired bullet didn’t bother Michael at all. By the time the magazine was empty and the range fell silent again, Jeremy had been stunned speechless. Michael turned to him, lips curved into a smug smile. 

“And that,” he said with a wave of the gun, “is how you shoot.” 

It was the most playful he had seen Michael since arriving at the penthouse, and it gave Jeremy the courage to return the Dragon’s grin.

“Cool,” he breathed. Michael’s smile widened and he shrugged in an attempt to appear nonchalant.

“I’ve had a lot of practice. Comes with being immortal.”

Jeremy snorted and they both fell silent. Michael turned away and began to pack up the gun they had been practicing with. Jeremy watched, making a vague attempt to absorb the steps of breaking down the rifle, but he knew he’d never be able to repeat it if asked. 

“Gavin told me you’re a Dragon,” Jeremy blurted out. He slapped a hand over his mouth, immediately regretting it. Michael closed the lid of the gun cas and paused, back still to Jeremy. The few seconds of silence that followed were torturous, and Jeremy was coming very close to just bolting from the room. Before he could, Michael turned. His expression was guarded and he stared Jeremy in the eyes as if challenging him. 

“What of it?” he asked, and all previous lightheartedness had vanished from his voice. Jeremy swallowed nervously. 

“I just- I think Dragons are really cool.” This did not appear to be the answer Michael was expecting and he paused, the former steel in his gaze slipping away. 

“Oh,” he said, and once again fell into silence. Embarrassed by his confession, Jeremy felt the overwhelming urge to run return, and as the silence stretched on the desire grew. Eventually, he decided to just leave, too uncomfortable to stand under the scrutiny of Michael’s gaze any longer. He nodded, and turned to head out the door. As he left, from behind him Michael called out.

“You’re pretty alright, Phoenix!”

Jeremy continued walking, but a small smile began to grow on his face. He couldn’t be certain, but the remark sort of felt like confirmation of acceptance from the Dragon. He would have to ask one of the others later to be sure, but the knowledge that, at the very least, Michael had warmed to him was enough to have him buzzing with happiness. So caught up in his joy, Jeremy didn’t realise he had been wandering aimlessly until he passed by the door to the emergency stairs, a door which he was yet to discover on this floor. The Fakes had bought out an entire high rise building - although Jeremy suspected they might have had it purpose built - and had converted many of the floors into useful facilities. There was the gun range a couple floors up from the ground, the med bay just below it, a massive underground garage, a gym, planning rooms galore, and, of course, the penthouse floor where the six main members of the Fake AH crew lived. Jeremy was sure he could spend a whole day exploring the building and still not see every room. He continued wandering, hoping he would find his way back to the range where he and Michael had been practicing. It took a few minutes but he eventually turned a corner and saw the open door to the range in front of him. 

_ For a moment I was afraid I’d be lost for hours. _

**_Certainly possible in this building. Shall we head up?_ **

Jeremy smiled at his spirit and made his way to the elevator, quickly pressing the button to call it. A quiet ding broke the silence that had settled, and the elevator door opened in front of him, sliding apart with a gentle hiss. Jeremy stepped in. He fished in his pocket for the penthouse key he had been given and gently slid it into place. Heph laughed at the thrill that went through Jeremy whenever he did this. It was exciting knowing he had a key that would take him directly to his current place of residence, especially when he’d spent three months living on park benches. The elevator quickly took him up and up and up. It soon stopped on the top floor, and the doors slid apart with another gentle hiss. The penthouse never failed to take his breath away. The main room was large and open plan, with a kitchen to the left and a massive lounge beginning just outside the elevator, and spanning the distance across the floor to the entire wall of windows on the opposite side. He stepped out of the elevator, drifting aimlessly into the centre of the room. It was silent, which Jeremy had quickly learned was a rare occurrence in this place, and he wasn’t sure where to go from here. He had assumed he would find at least someone sitting in the lounge, but apparently not. He gingerly perched on one of the couches. 

“Hey, kid.”

Jeremy looked up at the sound of the voice. It was Geoff. He was leaned against the wall, having appeared from down the corridor that led to what Jeremy knew to be the bedrooms and offices. Startled by the sudden appearance, Jeremy quickly leapt up. Before he could respond, Geoff beckoned him with a tilt of his head.

“Follow me, I want to have a chat.” Jeremy’s face must have given away his rising fear because Geoff let out a loud bark of laughter. “Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble, we just have to discuss a few things if you’re going to be around for a while.” With this assurance from Geoff, Jeremy let himself relax. After another beckoning gesture, Jeremy strode forward, following Geoff down the corridor and into a decadent looking office at the end. Three of the four walls were lined with bookcases that stretched right up to the top of the high ceilings, and the fourth wall was entirely glass; a window that looked over the city they found themselves in. Jeremy couldn’t help but want to look around, and found himself drifting to the massive window. It overlooked the heart of Los Santos, and he stared in awe. It wasn’t the landscape that made Los Santos an ugly city, in fact it tried very hard to make up for all the awful that the people living there brought. From this high up, where the people on the ground seemed barely the size of ants, you could almost ignore the fact that you were staring at the heart of the most crime ridden city in the country. It was breathtaking. To one side, the sweeping hills, topped with the iconic Vinewood sign; just barely visible at this distance. To the other, the ocean. A sprawling, writhing mass of blue crystal, catching the light with every roll of the tide, the glittering waves drawing his eye towards them. Jeremy breathed in deep. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Geoff’s voice pulled Jeremy away from the window. The other man had seated himself at his desk and was looking over at Jeremy with a soft smile. Jeremy grinned sheepishly and nodded in response. 

“Here, sit down kid.” Jeremy did as he was told. He moved away from the window and towards the desk. He pulled out the chair that Geoff had pointed to and gently sat down. 

“Right, Jeremy, I just want to get a handle on your skills so I know where we need to train you up and where you’ll be able to help us out.” Geoff drawled. He paused as he was momentarily distracted by something on one of the screens in front of him, then continued, “Now, Michael has already told me that you’re a natural with a rifle and that your aim is pretty top tier. He isn’t impressed very easily so I’m inclined to take his word for it.” Jeremy felt his face flush at the compliment. It was pleasing to know that the other man thought highly of his talents. 

“I don’t want to put you out on a mission just yet, not until I know you can handle yourself in a situation when things get hairy.” Jeremy nodded in understanding. “Michael is our resident expert on hand to hand combat, I’ll ask him to train you upon that too.” The next sentence was said almost to himself, “God knows that lad never turns down an opportunity to fight.” Jeremy felt the corner of his mouth raise without his permission. It was nice to know that the crew’s personalities while pulling off heists were reflective of their personalities outside of criminal activity; Jeremy wasn’t surprised to learn that the fiery redhead was keen and apt at fist fights. Geoff typed something on his computer before turning back to Jeremy.

“So, I know you briefly mentioned it when you first got here, but I just want to get a better grasp on what you can do already.” He poised his fingers above the keyboard as if waiting for Jeremy to speak so he could type. Jeremy sat up straighter. Heph had urged him to think about this in the last couple days he had been staying with the Fakes, so he was ready. He started with the obvious.

“You already know I’m good at arson; I have the ability to manipulate small flames.” Geoff nodded in response and lazily tapped something out on the keyboard. Jeremy waited for his fingers to pause again before he forged ahead.

“I’m good for infiltration.” Geoff’s eyebrows rose, and instead of typing he gave Jeremy a look as if to say ‘continue..’

“I’m a trained gymnast,” he fought the rising blush as Geoff’s mouth quirked up at this. “So I can get into places others might not be able to. Scale a building or whatever.” Geoff’s fingers were dancing across the keyboard now. “I can use my size to my advantage. Get in and out of places you wouldn’t expect, hide, sneak around. That sort of thing.” The older man was nodding, a considering look on his face. Jeremy felt the air near his shoulder ignite with a flame that didn’t burn.

**He’s also a talented liar.**

Geoff’s fingers paused as he jumped at the voice in his head. He looked up, briefly confused, and then realised Heph had manifested on Jeremy’s shoulder to join the conversation. He gave the bird a considering look.

“How talented?”

**He once convinced a cop he hadn’t been in a fight despite the broken nose, split knuckles, and two eyewitnesses.**

Geoff’s eyes widened in surprise and looked at Jeremy, very clearly impressed. His fingers started typing again. Jeremy stepped in.

“You know I’m good with guns, and I’m sure I have enough upper body strength to pack a decent punch so I’d be good on the frontlines.” Suddenly realising how that sounded, Jeremy hastily added, “If you think so, that is.” Geoff smiled, but his eyes stayed on the computer screen. 

“This is good info, thank you Jeremy… and Heph.” Geoff finished typing and gave Jeremy a warm smile. “I think you’ll fit into the crew well.” Jeremy flushed at the praise and went to thank Geoff before Heph cut him off.

**He’s also very flexible.**

There was a stunned silence as the two men processed the spirit’s words. Then, Jeremy’s face flooded with pink and he spluttered nonsensically until Geoff broke out into a full belly laugh. Jeremy could feel his spirit laughing too and allowed himself to let out a few awkward chuckles. When the older man had died down, and wiped a stray tear out of his eye, he turned to Jeremy.

“I like your spirit. Yeah, you two will fit right in.”

Jeremy’s answering smile was blinding. There was a lull in conversation as Geoff turned back to his computer screen. He spent a few seconds reading something, then resumed his frantic typing. Jeremy allowed himself to look around again. Geoff’s office was cosy; the red toned wood of the bookshelves gave the room a warm glow, and Jeremy was content to just sit there, taking it all in. His eyes drifted to a picture hung up behind Geoff’s desk. It was of the Fake AH Crew, the four of them sprawled out on deck chairs or floating in an outdoor pool. Most of them had drinks in their hands, and everyone was smiling. His eyes landed on Michael, and he suddenly thought to ask Geoff about the strange note their time at the gun range had ended on. 

“Geoff,” he waited for Geoff to look his way. “Michael was sort of weird earlier and I wanted to… clarify what happened I guess.” Geoff indicated for him to continue. “I told him I knew he was a Dragon and he got defensive,” Jeremy explained. Geoff nodded, almost as if he expected Jeremy to say that. 

“He’s not the best at expressing his feelings,” Geoff said. “His heritage and family can often be a sore spot, due to how much he’s lost. But, he is fiercely proud of what he is and where he comes from. It makes for a complicated situation in his head.” Jeremy nodded. It made sense, and he felt a little bit guilty for bringing the topic up so out of the blue earlier. Remembering exactly what he had said caused him to grimace in embarrassment.

“I told him I think Dragons are cool,” he mumbled. To his surprise, Geoff let out a bark of laughter. 

“Oh man, you did?! That’s amazing, he’ll love that,” he wheezed. Jeremy was relieved to hear as much and let a small sigh. 

“Phew, I thought I’d ruined my chances,” he said, and looked down at his fingers, now embarrassed for being worried.

“Don’t worry Jeremy, I think after that comment Michael will be ready to welcome you into the fold with open arms,” Geoff reassured. Jeremy didn’t respond, only smiled to himself. His gaze was directed at his hands so he missed the small, affectionate smile that Geoff directed his way. He heard Geoff shuffle in his seat and tap at something on his keyboard. Jeremy looked up, and the older man had closed whatever he was working on, and moved so he was facing Jeremy fully. He laid his palms flat on the mahogany desk, giving Jeremy a view of the tattoos he had sprawling across them, and spoke.

“Why don’t I tell you about myself.” Jeremy’s eyes immediately flicked up to Geoff’s face, unable to contain his natural curiosity. Geoff huffed a laugh in response.

“Well, firstly, I’m a Vampire.” 

Jeremy immediately felt Heph tense. He frowned, Heph hadn’t spoken too much about vampires, but the spirit hadn’t given Jeremy the impression that they were strongly disliked in the world of Creatures. Jeremy was confused by the caution and… protectiveness that his spirit was projecting. He didn’t think he could have stopped his spirit speaking if he tried, so he didn’t bother. The spirit’s tone was accusing.

**Is Gavin-**

Heph was cut off. Jeremy watched Geoff’s entire demeanor shift in a split second. His voice was cold when he spoke.

“No. I would never. I’ve made mistakes in my life but I never went that far.”

Jeremy felt Heph settle. While curious as to what the hell had just happened, he didn’t want to run the risk of angering Geoff further and simply let it slide. With one last beady look at Geoff, his spirit disappeared, and the warmth on his shoulder faded.

**_Maybe later._ **

Jeremy sighed. 

“Sorry about Heph. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to anymore.” He placated. Geoff scrubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath in, before letting it out slowly. 

“No, it’s alright Jeremy, I’m happy to share.” The older man rolled his shoulders, as if shaking off the last conversation, and settled back in his chair. His gaze floated towards the ceiling, remembering, and a small smile bloomed across his lips. He began.

“Jack and I met in the 1300s. I was already 400 years old at that point and had warrants out for my disposal from five different Vampire covens. I’d left my own before I was 100, something which is definitely frowned upon in vampire society, and went on … well a killing spree. Hence the warrants.” His face had pulled into a grimace, but he soldiered on. “Early in the 14th century I stumbled across this Nymph clan. They were peace loving and definitely didn’t want a vampire hanging around nearby. Especially one that was a known Blutdurst.” Jeremy frowned. He hadn’t heard that term before. Quietly, as if he didn’t want to disturb Geoff’s train of thought, he asked,

“A Blutdurst?” Geoff’s eyes briefly flicked back to Jeremy’s face, before his gaze fell to the floor. His posture changed just slightly, and Jeremy found he could read the slightly drooped shoulders quite clearly. Guilt.

“Bloodthirsty. It’s what vampires call one of our kind that has gone feral. I… Well, I killed a lot of people back then. Innocent, good people. I’m not proud of that time.” Geoff’s expression was dark. He looked angry and disappointed, and Jeremy realised those emotions were directed at himself. He felt the urge to comfort the Vampire.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Geoff looked taken aback, obviously not expecting that response. 

“Sorry? Jeremy, I was a monster.”

Jeremy shrugged. He didn’t see how that took anything away from who Geoff was now especially because, “You regret it. That proves you’re a good person now, and that’s what matters. It can’t be easy dealing with that guilt.”

Geoff shook his head in disbelief. 

“Are you sure you’re only 3 months old?” Again, Jeremy shrugged in response. He didn’t see anything profound about what he’d said. It was just honesty; he couldn’t imagine having to live an immortal life if that’s how it started. Geoff cleared his throat and continued.

“You aren’t the first to see the good in me. Thankfully, I met Jack.” Geoff’s earlier negative mood completely disappeared the moment he mentioned Jack’s name, and Jeremy could only describe his new expression as incredibly fond. “He was one of the Nymphs in the nearby clan, but he wasn't like the rest of them. They were afraid, wanted me gone as soon as possible and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. But Jack, he was curious, intrigued by the Blutdurst that would wander through the forest. God knows why, he claims he was bored of clan life but I reckon it was my dashing good looks.” Jeremy laughed at Geoff’s exaggerated arrogance and the other man grinned in response. “He approached me one day, and he was the first person to look at me with anything other than fear in… well for as long as I could remember. It made me pause, and he greeted me like you’d greet anyone else you’d just met.” Geoff’s grin had morphed into something smaller, softer. Jeremy found himself mirroring it. The Vampire shifted, eyes finding Jeremy’s again. “If I hadn’t met Jack, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. I owe him everything.” The conversation was interrupted by distant yelling and squawking from down the corridor. Geoff looked to the door and rolled his eyes. 

“Well Jeremy, I think I’ve wasted enough of your time. Shall we go see what the commotion is?” Jeremy nodded and stood. He stalled for a moment, while Geoff made his way to the door. Before he could open it Jeremy called out,

“Geoff?” He paused, hand resting on the handle, and turned to look at Jeremy, an inquisitive look on his face. Jeremy grinned. “Just... thanks.” The other man gave him a kind smile and nodded, before opening to the door and letting in the cacophony of voices from down the hall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays! Sorry for the super delayed update but I got sick, and then the holidays happened, so I've been pretty stripped for time to actually sit down and write. But here it is! Thank you for waiting! 
> 
> As always, find me on tumblr [here.](https://jusst-you-wait.tumblr.com/) I'm more than happy to yell about anything AH related (and especially this fic)


	5. Chapter 4 - Strays and Outcasts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning that there is a little bit of gore in this chapter. Nothing extreme, just wanted to give a heads up. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Jeremy had been in a few fist fights before, but he quickly learned that sparring was a whole different kettle of fish. The first week with the crew had left him exhausted. Most days he was dragged along to their personal gym by Michael - whose attitude towards Jeremy seemed to have taken a 180 turn - in order to learn how to properly handle himself in a one-on-one situation. Jeremy enjoyed it, but it was physically taxing. Thankfully, any bruises he obtained from the fiery lad were completely gone within an hour. Gavin came along most times to watch. He didn’t participate in the fighting; Fae didn’t have a lot of combat prowess, preferring to get out of fights with trickery and magic. Instead he cheered them on from the sidelines, conjuring little fireworks above the head of the victor each match. Most of the time it was Michael recieving the shower of colourful sparks, but by the end of the week, Jeremy was proud to say that he was beginning to win almost half the time. 

“Go Michael! Kick his ass boi!” The Fae had taken up the job of being his boyfriend’s personal cheerleader, after abandoning Jeremy now that he was no longer the underdog. His voice had to be sore after all the yelling he did, but Jeremy assumed that the flushed smile Michael gave Gavin every time made it worth it. The two seemed happy together. So lost in thought about his companions, Jeremy failed to notice the elbow directed forcefully towards his midriff before it was too late. His breath was knocked out of him and he keeled forwards, hands barely stopping his face from hitting the mat. Michael laughed.

“Don’t get distracted in the middle of a fight, that’s today’s lesson Jeremy.” Despite the teasing tone in the lad’s voice, he still stuck out his hand to help Jeremy up.

“Got it. Won’t do that again any time soon.” Jeremy managed to wheeze out. He was almost knocked over again when Gavin came barreling into him.

“Jeremy, are you okay, Jeremy? That looked like it hurt!” Jeremy brushed him off.

“I’m fine Gav, this’ll only take a bit to heal.” His words did nothing to deter the Fae, who lifted up Jeremy’s top to inspect and prod at the skin. The three were interrupted by a cough behind them.

“Am I interrupting something?” They whipped round at the sound of Geoff’s voice. Gavin was the first to respond.

“Michael hit Jeremy really hard! I’m just making sure he’s okay.” Jeremy finally managed to shove the other lad’s hands away and straightened out his top. Geoff snorted.

“Gavin, he’s immortal. It doesn’t matter.” At this, Jeremy felt a flare of anger that wasn’t entirely his own.

**_But we still feel pain. It does matter._ **

_ It’s okay Heph I’m sure he doesn’t mean it like that. _

Although, Jeremy had to admit that Geoff’s words did sting a little bit. However, before he could even think about saying anything, Gavin scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“God, I can’t believe you. Not everyone is immune, Geoff, you pleb. How many times are you going to forget that some other immortal beings feel pain?” To his credit, Geoff looked very sheepish at that. Gavin continued, “Jeremy, do Phoenixes feel pain?” 

Suddenly, all eyes were on him. Jeremy shifted under their gazes and hesitated before speaking.

“Well, I guess- um… yeah in a way of-” 

**We do. As real as any human, if we haven’t shielded properly.**

Jeremy watched as everyone’s faces fell, and, having felt the now familiar heat ignite on his shoulder, assumed the recently manifested Heph had extended the statement to the others. Michael was the first to break the silence.

“Shit Jeremy! Why didn’t you tell me? I wasn’t holding back because I just assumed… my bullet bounced off your forehead so I didn’t think… fuck, Jeremy, I’m sorry, are you alright?” 

Before Michael had even finished Jeremy was adamantly shaking his head.

“No I’m fine! I heal super fast the pain doesn’t last! And it was good motivation to learn quickly. Really, don’t worry about it.”

There was another awkward silence in which Jeremy was greeted with different expressions from each of the others. Michael looked devastated, Gavin sympathetic, and Geoff guilty. It was Geoff that broke the tension. 

“Your spirit mentioned a shield. You’ve learned to use that?” 

Jeremy sighed.

“Yeah, a little bit. I’m pretty crap at it, it’s one of the skills we have to relearn with each life. So it takes all my focus and I can just do small areas at the moment. Uh that night- well… Michael was pointing a gun at my head, I just wanted to be prepared for the worst.”

Michael grimaced. The four of them once again lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, and Heph chose that moment to escape, dematerialising in a final burst of flames. Desperate to change the subject, Michael spoke up. 

“Well Jeremy, you haven’t watched a sparring match yet have you? Geoff, come here. We’ll show him how it’s done.” Geoff nodded his assent with a grin and made his way to the side of the room to wrap his hands. Michael gave Gavin and Jeremy a bright grin stepped towards the mat. Once Geoff had finished, he joined Michael, and the two men drifted to the centre, standing opposite each other and falling into loose fighting stances. They paused, facing each other off, watching and waiting. Jeremy was about to question the hesitation when all of a sudden Michael burst forward in a flurry of movement. He threw a jab to Geoff’s face, quickly followed by a kick to the stomach, but the taller man was prepared. He slid back, moving out of range of Michael’s jab and brought his arm up to catch the kick on his forearm. The hit was solid, and Jeremy thought it must have thrown Geoff off balance, but he quickly recovered and lunged for Michael’s waist. The two on the mat went tumbling down in a pile of swinging limbs. There was a brief moment of struggle before they separated. Both men were on their knees, breathing heavier already and hair in disarray. Geoff’s mouth had curled into a wide smile and Michael let out a breath of exhilarated laughter. Jeremy couldn’t tear his eyes away. It felt like he had watched them go at it for hours, even though he knew it had barely been a minute. He finally shifted his focus when he heard Gavin giggle beside him.

“They’re good aren’t they?” 

All Jeremy could do was nod; lost for words to describe what he was witnessing.

“I was very much the same when I first watched them go at it. You can tell they were made for it; look at their lustre.” Jeremy cocked his head. 

“Lustre?”

_ Heph what’s that? _

**_I want to hear what he says._ **

“Oh Jeremy do you not know? Look at my eyes.”

Jeremy did as he was told, leaning forwards to peer into the eyes of the Brit. Just as he had seen the red glow in Michael’s eyes, he noticed a very faint glow emanating from the Fae’s green eyes. 

“They’re glowing green? Michael’s do it too.”

Gavin grinned and nodded.

“It’s my Lustre Jeremy, you have one too. It’s how us Creatures can spot each other. It’s like a physical manifestation of our aura.”

Armed with this new information, Jeremy turned back to the pair on the mats. He peered closely at their eyes, but found that he needn’t look as hard as he had with Gavin. Geoff’s eyes were glowing a cool dark blue, and Michael’s warm brown eyes seemed to dance with flame. 

“I can see theirs easier than yours.”

Gavin smiled at him briefly before turning back to the fight.

“Lustre glows brighter when your emotions are elevated; they enjoy the thrill of the fight.”

Jeremy nodded to himself. He glanced back at the eyes of the two men sparring.

“Geoff’s Lustre is like the ocean, it’s like the opposite to Michael’s. Michael’s looks like fire.”

Gavin hummed, seemingly entranced by the Dragon’s movements.

“It’s pretty isn’t it?”

Jeremy smiled softly at the fond tone of voice. They fell into a comfortable silence, both content to watch the others fight. The two on the mat were resetting, Michael pulling Geoff up from the floor with a grunt. They stood in the centre, facing off yet again, but this time only for a moment. Michael sprung forwards, launching himself at the taller man, attempting to pull him down into a grapple. Not fully prepared for the attack, Geoff stumbled and they both toppled over. The two of them struggled on the floor, each trying to take control of the grapple, throwing elbows and knees, trying arm bars and wrist locks.  They were evenly matched, just waiting for a mistake to be made, an opportunity to present itself. 

Eventually, Michael lost his grip on Geoff, for only a split second, but a split second was all Geoff needed. He got a hold of the shorter man’s arm and pulled it between his legs, using his hips to push up on the arm, and pinning Michael in an arm bar. Michael struggled, until Geoff pushed his hips up more, putting pressure on Michael’s elbow. He grit his teeth through the pain but only lasted a second before tapping out, and Geoff released him. The two of them sat on the mat for a minute, panting hard. Geoff flopped backwards mumbling something about being too old, and Michael grinned at him. The Dragon stood up and brushed himself off, before extending a hand to help Geoff up. When they were both righted, Michael turned to the two on the bench.

“Hey, Jeremy!” Michael waved him over. “I reckon you should spar with Geoff, can’t be good to only ever practice with one person right?” 

Jeremy swallowed. He wasn’t sure how comfortable he was with going head to head with the leader of the Fake AH crew, especially considering Geoff seemed to forget other people feel pain. But he didn’t want to risk his spot in the crew, so he pushed down his rising fear and stepped towards the mat. Geoff stood across from him, already holding himself in a stance ready to fight, and Jeremy hesitated for a moment. As if sensing his discomfort, Geoff’s mouth curled up into a reassuring smile, and the reminder that Geoff did in fact care for him and his well-being settled his nerves. He fell into a comfortable stance and the two faced off in much the same way that Geoff had faced off with Michael. 

The Vampire was all loose grace, bouncing on his toes and rolling his shoulders, and Jeremy tried hard to copy the more skilled man’s posture. Geoff raised his hand and Jeremy tensed, but the other man simply beckoned, motioning for Jeremy to attack. He obliged, and stepped forwards, throwing a quick jab to test Geoff’s defences. The taller man parried it easily, and returned a similar jab of his own. Jeremy expected this, and dodged out of the way, only to find himself in the direct path of a kick that caught him in the side with a strong thump. His breath hitched with the hit, but he quickly recovered and managed to land a kick and a punch to Geoff’s sternum, successfully knocking the wind out of him. Jeremy took the fleeting opportunity and tackled Geoff to the ground. The Vampire barely kept himself out of the attempted arm lock while he regained his breath, and once he did, he quickly turned on the offensive. 

Jeremy and Geoff struggled for a bit, but Jeremy found himself unable to land another blow; the other man slipped out of the way every time. Sensing he was getting nowhere trying to grapple the taller man, Jeremy pulled back, attempting to push himself up to gain a rare height advantage. It was a mistake, one Geoff was all too happy to take advantage of, and he lunged at the short man. Jeremy’s back hit the floor. The wind was knocked out of his lungs and he felt dazed. Geoff was grinning lazily down at Jeremy from where he had the Phoenix pinned.

“Not bad, kid,” he said, then pushed himself up and extended a hand to Jeremy. Still trying to catch his breath, Jeremy took Geoff’s hand gratefully and was pulled effortlessly to his feet. Geoff clapped him on his back and he stumbled forwards, still weak from being winded.

“You’ll be a great addition to the front lines,” Geoff said. Jeremy couldn’t believe it. Geoff had just complimented him and was looking down on him with a smile that looked… well, proud. 

**_He is right to be proud. You have done well to learn so quickly._ **

Jeremy beamed.

“Thank you,” he breathed. Geoff nodded, then clapped his hands together. 

“Well, I think I need a shower after that.” His face contorted into a grimace and he looked pointedly at Michael and Jeremy. “You two could do with one too.”

Michael laughed, and he herded Gavin out the door, throwing a quick wave to Jeremy over his shoulder. Jeremy’s smile only grew wider. He felt warm all over, overjoyed by the easy way the others treated him. As he stood there, he became increasingly aware of the uncomfortable feeling of sweat sticky skin. 

_ I think a shower sounds like a very good idea. _

Heph laughed.

~

Clean and dry, with a pleasant post-exercise ache throughout his body, Jeremy set out to find the others. He wandered in the direction of the living room and kitchen. However, no one was in the living room when he got there. 

“Jeremy.”

The man in question turned at the sound of his name. He found himself face to face with Jack, who was perched on one of the bar stools in the kitchen.

“Gavin just mentioned to me that you aren’t immune, said that you use your aura to heal? And shield yourself?”

Jeremy frowned, unsure what he meant by the term. He was saved from having to reply when he felt his spirit manifest on his shoulder.

**That is correct.**

He watched Jack startle slightly at the voice, still not used to hearing Heph in his head, but he recovered quickly and continued his line of questioning.

“Can you project your aura? Heal others?” Heph pushed off from Jeremy’s shoulder and with only a couple flaps of fiery wings the spirit moved to Jack’s shoulder instead.

**In theory, yes. Jeremy has not tried this yet, as we have had no one else to heal.**

Caught in the middle of a conversation about himself that he didn’t understand, Jeremy began to lose his patience. 

“Okay hold on, what’s aura? Gavin mentioned it too but I forgot to ask.”

At this, Jack raised an eyebrow. He peered at the Phoenix on his shoulder from the corner of his eye.

“I thought your little bird would have mentioned that.”

**It has not come up in my teachings yet. I was focused on other things.**

Jeremy glared halfheartedly at his spirit. 

“It seems like a pretty important thing to just not mention.” 

Heph’s beady eyes stared defiantly at him for a moment before the bird caved. 

**I suppose it was an oversight on my part**

Jack smiled at the interaction. 

“Well, no time like the present to learn, right?”

Jeremy nodded, excited to hear what Jack had to say. After hearing Geoff talk about his past and Gavin explaining Lustre, Jeremy was excited to continue learning about the world of Creatures from the group of them he found himself amongst now. Jack shifted on his stool and looked at the firebird still sat on his shoulder. 

“Heph you might have to help me explain this, I’m not sure I’ll do it justice on my own.” Jeremy suppressed a smile as Heph’s chest puffed out. Jack had obviously worked out that the spirit enjoyed feeling important, and knew exactly what to say to please the bird.

**I shall expand if I think your explanation is lacking in any area.**

Jack gave a satisfied nod and turned back to Jeremy. 

“Well, I guess I’ll start by saying that every person has a soul, humans and Creatures alike. Souls are very powerful things, even human souls. The difference is that us Creatures, we have access to that power, our souls are, for want of a better term, unlocked.” Jack paused and looked at Heph, giving the spirit a chance to correct what he had said. But Heph said nothing, and after a small incline of the bird’s head, Jack continued. “Aura is… an extension of our soul. It’s like the external pool of our power. Every Creature has an aura, and every Creature’s abilities stem from and draw power from that aura. Even though there is a lot of variation in these abilities, they all come from the same place. Our aura; our soul.”

Jeremy listened in rapt fascination. While he always knew his power had to come from somewhere, it was exciting to learn more about its origins.

**A very concise and well worded explanation. Although no doubt Jeremy will have a multitude of questions.**

Jeremy rolled his eyes fondly at his spirit’s teasing. 

“I’ll save them all for you later so I don’t annoy Jack.” 

As if suddenly remembering why they had begun the conversation in the first place, Jack stood up from the stool. 

“Now, I mentioned using aura to heal others… I want to teach you how to do it.” Jeremy blinked, not having time accept or deny before Jack was moving again. He clapped his hands together and looked distractedly off into the distance, clearly in thought. His gaze drifted to the kitchen and his expression slowly lit up. 

“Alright Jeremy, time for your first lesson in aura projection beyond yourself.”

He squeezed past where Jeremy stood and made his way to the kitchen bench. Jeremy watched him, slightly concerned by the scheming look in Jack’s eyes. Heph, who up until that point was still perched on Jack’s shoulder, seemed to clue in to what the bearded man meant. With a brief glance at Jeremy the spirit spoke up.

**I believe it would be best if I disappeared. No point in pushing Jeremy’s aura expenditure more than necessary if we’re going to do this.**

Jack nodded in agreement and the firebird pushed off from his shoulder and vanished in a burst of flame. Jeremy moved towards Jack, now even more wary about what was going to happen. 

“What exactly is this lesson going to entail, Jack?”

Jack didn’t reply. Instead, he grabbed a knife from the magnetic strip on the wall and Jeremy’s eyes went wide. 

“What are we doing with that?” Jack laughed and gave him a wicked smile. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to use it on you.” And that was all the warning Jeremy got before Jack brought the knife to the back of his forearm and pressed. Jeremy gave a yell of shock and moved to stop him but Jack gave him a look that very clearly said stay put. So Jeremy did. And watched with wide startled eyes as Jack quickly sliced the blade down the back of his forearm. 

“Jesus christ, Jack!”

Jack shrugged, an expression of concentration on his face, not taking his eyes off the gash until it started to glow a warm orange. Jeremy watched, awestruck, as the wound refused to bleed. Jack finally looked up.

“This isn’t the lesson, but I am able to self heal, and if I only focus a small amount of aura to the wound, well, I suppose you can see. No blood, no pain.”

Jeremy peered closer, fascinated. The cut was clean and precise and didn’t look at all like a wound should. A lack of blood changed the appearance of a deep gash quite a bit. Jack huffed.

“Alright, I know it’s weird looking but keeping this level of aura steady is a little bit challenging. Not really something I’m used to doing.”

Jeremy nodded in understanding, not taking his eyes off the wound.

“Here’s where your lesson begins. Come here, Jeremy, put your hands on my arm.”

Jeremy paused, unsure and still unsettled by the bloodless wound, but eventually stepped forwards. He gingerly reached out, hands hovering just above Jack’s arm, before he looked up at Jack’s face, silently asking for confirmation that he was doing the right thing. Jack gave him a strained but warm smile and beckoned Jeremy with a nod of his head. Jeremy gently placed his hands on Jack’s arm, making sure to cover the wound and hold it closed. Once settled he took a deep breath to steady himself, and then looked back up at Jack.

“Okay, now what?”

Jack frowned in concentration again for just a second before a thoughtful look passed over his face.

“You know the feeling of bringing up your shield right?”

Jeremy nodded and, predicting where Jack’s instructions were about to head, began pushing his aura to gather in his hands. Jack hummed.

“Good. Now, imagine pushing outwards. As if trying to yell at someone across the room, but with your aura.”

Jeremy took a second, considering the analogy that Jack gave, initially confused. But he tried to put it into action and was surprised to find it quite intuitive. His initial assessment of aura feeling more physical wasn’t quite accurate. It was indeed much more like talking. You weren’t quite aware of the individual muscles making the movement, not like lifting an arm, instead it was far more abstract. As if you knew what it felt like to change the movement but had no idea what that change actually was. Talking was a very good analogy. So, Jeremy projected his aura, just as one would project their voice. It took quite a lot of concentration but eventually he saw the colour of Jack’s glowing arm change. The orange grew lighter, the gold of Jeremy’s own aura bleeding into the colour already there. 

“Well done!”

Jeremy jumped, startled by Jack’s voice, having almost forgotten he was there. Jack laughed quietly. 

“Sorry. You’ve done well, but we’re only halfway there.”

Jeremy looked closer at the wound. Nothing was happening.

“It’s not healing?” His observation came out much more like a question.

“No. At the moment, you’ve just extended your shield. Healing is a different feeling but it will be a little easier than this, as you’ll draw from my aura too.”

Jeremy nodded in understanding.

“What does that feel like?”

Jack ummed, as if deliberating.

“Well, it’s even more abstract. Your shield feels like putting a barrier up. Healing is more like… filling up the area you’re concentrating on.”

Despite sounding more abstract, the description clicked faster for Jeremy, and he quickly focused on changing how the output of his aura felt. The glow surrounding Jack’s arm pulsed and Jeremy had to try hard to hold back a shout of glee as the wound began knitting itself back together. It was slow, but the wound was definitely healing.

“Hey, you’re a natural, Jeremy.” Jeremy looked up at Jack to give him a grateful smile but immediately felt the grip on his aura slipping. He quickly looked back down. Jack laughed kindly.

“Don’t worry, this is still good for your first time.”

Jeremy didn’t respond, too focused on not letting his aura slip again. He watched the wound slowly heal until it was fully closed, and then until it turned into what looked like a weeks old scar, and then slowly faded even further until Jack’s arm looked exactly how it had before he took a knife to it. Jeremy let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding and found himself gasping for his next one, surprisingly worn out.

“That was a lot of effort.” Jeremy breathed. Jack laughed again and patted his back.

“Yeah, the first couple times you do this it’ll take a lot out of you. But I promise it gets easier.” Jeremy gave Jack another grateful smile and the two fell into a comfortable silence, only disrupted by Jeremy’s heavy breathing that he tried desperately to control. Jack let Jeremy catch his breath, watching him with a thoughtful look on his face. When Jeremy’s panting finally quieted, Jack spoke up.

“Geoff mentioned he told you about how we met.”

Jeremy froze. He immediately felt as if he had overstepped a boundary. Even though Geoff had been happy to share their past, Jack might not have been comfortable with it, and Jeremy began to feel exceptionally guilty. 

“I’m sorry-”

Before he had even finished his apology Jack was raising his hands placatingly.

“It’s alright, Jeremy. I don’t mind you knowing, Geoff knows this or he wouldn’t have told you.”

Jeremy relaxed and Jack continued.

“The reason I brought it up is because Geoff has an awful habit of leaving out my side of the story.” At that, Jeremy perked up, again, unable to control his natural curiosity. Jack laughed. “I take it you’d be keen to hear it.” Jeremy blushed, embarrassed by his own eagerness, but he nodded bashfully and scooted around the bench to seat himself on a stool. Jack leaned back, resting on the bench behind him. His eyes glazed over in a faraway look and for a moment he was silent. Jermemy watched him quietly, and was considering breaking the silence himself when Jack began.

“I never really fit in with my clan.” His distant smile morphed into a frown. “They were defensive and paranoid, and believed only in trusting the clan, and maybe other Nymphs. Any other Creatures were not to be trusted, and this was doubly so for humans.” Jack let the frown go with a sigh. “They had their reasons, I know the elders of the clan had seen some difficult times so I don’t blame them for their opinions, they just weren’t in line with my own. I believe everyone deserves a chance to be trusted, Creature or not.” 

Jeremy couldn’t stop the small, relieved smile that inched its way onto his face. It was comforting to know that Jack was willing to trust so easily. Jack’s gaze settled back on the shorter man and he gave Jeremy a roguish grin. “And anyway, the clan life was atrociously boring.” Jeremy chuckled, remembering how Geoff had mentioned something similar. Jack’s smile turned fond and his gaze drifted away. “That’s probably what drew me to Geoff in the first place. The desire for something a little more exciting in my life. I’d wander out into the deeper parts of the forest everyday, just to talk to him.” Jack absentmindedly folded his arms across his chest. “Until someone caught us, and the gig was up. The clan elders banned me from ever seeing him again.” He shrugged his shoulders, the embodiment of indifference. “So I gave them the middle finger and left. Met Geoff in the woods the next day and asked him to run away with me.” 

Jack pushed himself off the bench and turned to face Jeremy once again. “At the time, I had no idea we’d end up taking Gavin, Michael, and now you under our wings, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. Strays and outcasts always seem to find each other.” Jack glanced at the clock. “I’d better get going. We should continue these lessons, it would be a weight off my shoulders having another healer around.” And with one last smile, Jack was gone. Jeremy sat on the stool for a while after that, thinking about what he had learned both about aura and Jack himself. He couldn’t help but dwell on the last thing Jack had said.

_ Strays and outcasts always seem to find each other… _

Heph hummed.

**_Strays and outcasts indeed._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone that notices these things, I've been making small changes to previous chapters as I go when decide how I want things to work. The biggest one is I've started adding actual chapter titles, and I might switch up how I do the chapter summaries. We'll see.
> 
> A massive thank you to [Emrys](https://ibyte13.tumblr.com/) for this chapter, without your help I would never have been able to write the sparring scenes. Please shower this gem of a person in appropriate love.


	6. Chapter 5 - What is Game Night?

Jeremy had no idea the first couple weeks of his time with the Fakes would be spent acquiring so many new skills. Currently, he was sitting in one of their bunkers with Michael, learning how to blow shit up. Michael was surprisingly knowledgeable in this area, despite his frequent proclamations that he is, in fact, a dumbass. But here he was, explaining to Jeremy the difference between an accelerant and a detonator, as if knowing this was nothing special. Currently, the two were sat on the floor, a whole bunch of items, wires, and cords strewn across the space in front of them.

“C4 is generally your best bet, but gunpowder works well in a pinch.” Michael was saying. Deeming his explanation of the explosive/accelerant aspect done, he put down the lump of C4 he was holding and instead picked up a mess of wires, with what looked like part of a circuit board attached.

“This is a timer.” He pulled two wires away from the tangle and angled the device so Jeremy could see them, “These two you shove into the C4, and then all you have to do is set a timer and you’re good.” Jeremy nodded. Michael’s explanation seemed simple enough now, but he was sure he would forget how to do it all in half an hour. He wasn’t too worried though, apparently no one else really understood the explosives like Michael did, only how to trigger one once it was set up. If worse came to worst, Jeremy was a Phoenix, he could conjure flame to ignite something if necessary. This train of thought made Jeremy curious. Phoenixes were very much associated with fire in folklore, but so were Dragons.

_ Heph, do you know if Dragons have fire abilities? _

**_Perhaps you should ask the one right in front of you instead._ **

Jeremy groaned internally. He was very conscious of the fact that he was constantly asking the crew for information, and it made him feel a bit pathetic, despite all reassurances otherwise. 

**_Something tells me Michael will be more than happy to share._ **

Heph had a point. From what Jeremy had gathered, Michael was very proud of his Dragon heritage. He supposed he might as well ask.

“Hey Michael,” he waited till Michael looked up from the wires he was untangling. “Can Dragons create fire at all?” Jeremy had to suppress a chuckle as Michael’s face lit up. He dropped the wires and shuffled into a more comfortable position on the floor. 

“I’m sure you’ve worked it out already, but a lot of the folklore and legends are pretty accurate. They came from real stories once upon a time. So yeah, Dragons can create fire. We breathe it.” Michael gave him a wicked grin, which faded quickly. “I’m not allowed to show you though. It’s a decent amount of fire and I can’t really control it. It can get out of hand pretty quick.” Jeremy nodded, he had seen firsthand how little it took for a fire to grow out of control, it was probably sensible that Michael used his ability sparingly. Michael continued talking.

“The amount I breathe in human form has nothing on what I can do in my other forms though.” Jeremy cocked his head. He knew some Creatures disguised their nature with a glamour, as Gavin did, but Jeremy hadn’t heard of any Creature having more than two forms as Michael had just implied. He decided to ask. 

“Don’t you just have your human form and Dragon form? What else is there?” Michael frowned.

“My hybrid form of course. How come you don’t know about those?” Jeremy shrugged and internally poked Heph. It seemed that while Heph had told him a lot about the different types of Creatures that existed, the spirit had left a lot out about the specifics of each Creature’s abilities. The bird in question manifested on Jeremy’s shoulder. Heph managed to portray a very sheepish countenance despite having the limited facial expressions of a bird. 

**I will admit, it has been many centuries since I have had to teach a new Phoenix, and Jeremy is the first to turn down access to previous lives. I find myself forgetting how little he knows.**

Jeremy blushed at Heph’s words. He knew it was weird for a Phoenix to not merge with their past selves, and even if Heph didn’t mean it in a bad way, Jeremy felt guilty that he was forcing extra work on the spirit. Heph was quick to shut down that train of thought. 

**_Hush. It has been a new, but pleasant experience._ **

Michael shrugged, unphased by Jeremy’s lack of knowledge.

“Oh well, means you’ll be more impressed when I show you.” He stood up and moved away from Jeremy to give himself some room.

“Give me a moment, this takes a bit of effort.”

Michael closed his eyes, an expression of intense concentration on his face. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers, and Jeremy was just about to ask what was actually going to happen when his breath caught in his throat. Michael’s skin began to glow red, the concentration uneven, colour pooling at his joints. Then the skin on his arms seemed to crack, and Jeremy let out a surprised gasp as tiny scales broke through the surface of his skin. They were a russet red, and quickly crawled from his hands to envelop his wrists, where they petered off, only for a moment, before another patch sprouted from his elbows. 

Jeremy watched the scales track up his arms until they disappeared under the sleeve of his top. There they seemed to stop, or so Jeremy thought, but he was proven wrong moments later when the scales climbed even higher, travelling up the sides of Michael’s neck. They again disappeared, this time hiding under the mop of auburn curls. Michael’s head, already glowing faintly, became haloed in a bright red light. He screwed his face  up, before two small horns began peeking out from his curls. They continued to grow, wrapping around to the front of his head and curving up above his forehead. Jeremy was in awe. He flicked his gaze back down to see that claws now existed where nails once were, and Michael’s hands looked almost entirely reptilian. There was a sound like creaking bone as Michael hunched forwards. Wrapping one arm around his back, he used a razor sharp claw to slice two long cuts in the back of his shirt. Jeremy was quick to put two and two together and waited with baited breath as skin and bone shifted, and stretched, and groaned, and two wings pushed their way through the new holes. They grew, and continued to grow, until Michael unfolded them and stretched them to their full size, each wing the length of his body. 

Jeremy was speechless. The russet scales covered the length of the wings, and the leathery webbing was a paler pink, somewhere between the colour of the scales and Michael’s skin tone. The horns were a darker shade, but still a deep red colour. Michael straightened. His wings slouched into a more natural position, and Jeremy noticed he was panting. Between gasps, Michael flashed Jeremy a quick smile.

“Ta-da!”

Jeremy startled himself by letting out a bark of disbelieving laughter.

“Wow…” He breathed. Finally catching his breath, Michael spread out his arms and encouraged Jeremy over with a jerk of his head. Hesitantly, Jeremy stood up. Even though he himself possessed abilities that would be considered impossible to a normal human, he couldn’t quite fathom what he was seeing. He shuffled forwards and reached a hand out towards one of Michael’s wings. He paused and his voice wasn’t much more than a whisper when he asked, “Can I?” Michael nodded and bent his wing in so Jeremy could reach it easier. Gingerly, Jeremy laid a hand on the scaled limb. He was initially surprised by the warmth, but he supposed it made sense, what with Dragons being Creatures of fire. The scales shifted under his hand with every small movement Michael made. A thought suddenly occurred to Jeremy.

“Does shifting hurt?”

Michael shook his head.

“Nah, no pain. Feels a bit weird because it’s been a while, but it’s mostly tiring. Takes a lot to grow these things,” he wiggled his wings for emphasis. “But nowhere near as much as a full shift.”

Jeremy pulled his hand back.

“Why does a full shift take so much effort?”

Michael beamed at him.

“I get really big. Think like, draft horse with wings. So it takes energy to create that mass. A full shift takes a good few minutes.” Michael’s eye began to twinkle with mischief. “You wanna go outside? Then you can see the wings in action.”

Jeremy nodded vigorously and followed after Michael as he headed for the door. Michael continued talking as he walked. 

“Gavin isn’t here to whip up a glamour to hide us, but we’re pretty far from people out here so I reckon I’ll be fine for a quick flight.” By this point the two of them had made it outside and Michael wasted no time in taking a running leap, launching himself into the air. His massive wings unfolded and with only a couple flaps he was soaring well above Jeremy, whooping and shouting all the way. Jeremy laughed and felt Heph shifting on his shoulder. He turned to look at his fidgeting spirit and quickly guess the reason for Heph’s restlessness. “No one’s here, I’m sure you can get away with a little flying.” That was all the encouragement the firebird needed. Heph pushed off from Jeremy’ shoulder and was soon flying alongside Michael. Jeremy was content to watch the two of them stretch their wings, enjoying the swooping dives Michael pulled off. After a few minutes, the two of them landed, Michael stumbling a little on impact, and Heph delicately perching on one of his wings shortly after. Jeremy immediately burst into applause. 

“That was awesome!”

Michael flushed, face still sporting a wide grin. He gave a mock bow, wings moving with the motion in a way that kept Heph stable. He stood back up and looked at the bird on his shoulder. Jeremy watched the grin slip from Michael’s face as his expression turned thoughtful.

“Hey, Phoenix, I don’t suppose you have another form, do you?” Michael addressed the question to Heph, as if already aware that Jeremy wouldn’t know the answer. Too curious to be embarrassed, Jeremy also turned to look at his spirit. The bird seemed to sigh.

**In theory, yes.**

Jeremy perked up, but was stopped from speaking with a sharp look from Heph.

**However, it is very different from the form shifting ability you, a Werebeast, or other such creatures possess. Very few Phoenixes are able to… unlock their true form. It requires a very strong bond between Phoenix and spirit.**

Jeremy’s face fell. Michael gave him a sympathetic look and knocked his shoulder against Jeremy’s. 

“I’m sure you’ll get it one day.”

Heph nodded.

**You have achieved it in previous lives, I wouldn’t give up hope just yet.**

Their words were enough to coax a small smile back onto Jeremy’s face. Heph flew over to perch on Jeremy’s shoulder briefly before dematerialising. Michael rolled his shoulders as he had done before his transformation.

“I should do the same. The sun is starting to set; if we stay out here any longer we’ll be late for game night.” Jeremy cocked his head.

“What is game night?”

Michael chose not to answer, only smirked in response.

“Stand back, this shift is a little different.”

Jeremy made a hasty retreat. Michael hunched himself over and closed his eyes. His horns and wings began smoking, at first thin wisps wafting slowly up, building until it seemed impossible that so much smoke was pouring out from no apparent source. With the smoke came heat. Jeremy didn’t notice the rise in temperature, until he was suddenly hit by a wave of hot air. He flinched, turning to shield himself and protect his face. There was a gust of hot wind, the smell of smoke, and then everything settled. Jeremy opened his eyes. Michael’s wings, horns, and scales were gone. There was a thin veil of smoke in the air, continuing to quickly dissipate. 

“Changing back is a lot easier, it’s one of the main differences between Dragons and Werebeasts. We grow new forms each time, and then just dispel them as heat energy. It’s a lizard thing.” Jeremy nodded. That explained the wave of hot air he had felt. Michael moved past Jeremy and hit the panel to open the bunker door.

“Come on! We have to pack everything up, and we don’t want to be late for game night.”

Jeremy let out an exasperated cry of “What is game night?!” but Michael had already disappeared inside.

~

It took them about half an hour to make it back to the apartment block. The entire time Michael refused to elaborate on what game night entailed and only said “you’ll see,” when Jeremy asked. Instead they talked about other things, conversation ranging from what Jeremy had been doing before joining the crew (Michael was surprised when the answer was ‘working out how to join the crew’ and nothing else), to Michael’s life, and how long he and Gavin had been with the crew. When they did eventually make it back, Michael turned his signature wicked grin on Jeremy. 

“I’ll grab Gavin if you wanna get Geoff and Jack. Just tell them it’s time for game night, they’ll know what you mean.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and got out of the car. Michael did the same, but they both paused to look down at their clothes. Aside from the two new holes in the back of Michael’s top, they were both covered in dust and gunpowder from their day’s activities.

**_Perhaps the sparring match in the dirt this morning was not the best idea._ **

Jeremy ignored his spirit, choosing to share a knowing grin with Michael instead. 

“We should probably change so Geoff doesn’t complain.” 

Michael nodded, and his grin turned chastened. 

“Please don’t tell him I ruined another top by showing off again,” he said. Jeremy laughed and shook his head in agreement.

“Promise.”

The two of them made their way to the elevator in the parking garage. Jeremy got his penthouse key out and turned the switch in the elevator, but Michael pressed a button for one of the lower floors, and soon slipped out the door with a quick wave, leaving Jeremy alone. Left with only his thoughts for company, Jeremy couldn’t help but return to the meaning of game night. While the concept of games was one that stuck with him into this new life, he had no idea what kind of game a group of immortal, magical Creatures would play.

**_In all seven of your lives, you have never seemed to master the concept of patience._ **

Jeremy rolled his eyes at Heph, choosing not to answer his spirit in favour of stepping out of the now open elevator doors. The penthouse was quiet, and he assumed that Jack and Geoff were either in their room or in one of the offices. He set off down the corridor, intent on finding at least one of them. As he moved past Geoff’s office, he noticed the door was slightly ajar, and he could just make out the sound of voices from within. Jeremy assumed one was Geoff, and he pressed closer to the open door in order to work out who the other voice was. He quickly ascertained that the other was Jack, and huffed lightly.

_ Convenient. _

Jeremy made no move to open the door or announce his presence.

**_Eavesdropping is considered rude._ **

Jeremy flinched at Heph’s reprimanding but he didn’t move away from the door. 

_ They sound worried… Maybe I could help? _

Heph fell silent, and Jeremy, interpreting this as begrudging permission, tuned back into the conversation.

“Look, Geoff, there isn’t anything we can do at the moment. Even if this new gang is targeting us on purpose, we don’t have enough evidence to back up any action on our part. You know there are plenty of gangs that would jump on an opportunity to take us down if they felt we were acting out of turn.” Jack’s voice was soothing, but Geoff still let out a frustrated grunt.

“If rumours are to be believed, Jack, we might be dealing with more Creatures. I don’t know how well equipped we are to handle that.” There was some shuffling, and when Jack spoke again, his voice was muffled, as if pressed into fabric. 

“We’ll work it out, Geoff. We always do.” Suddenly feeling like he was intruding on an intimate moment, Jeremy backed away from the door. 

_ What do you make of that, Heph? _

**_It seems there may be a gang causing trouble. But it is not our problem until Geoff and Jack decide to tell us. Do not do anything rash._ **

Jeremy sighed. Heph was right. It was his job to follow Geoff’s orders, and if they found out he had been eavesdropping he could risk his spot in the crew. 

_ Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep our ear out for any information on new Creatures in the area. _

**_I suppose you are right._ **

Jeremy quietly crept back down the hallway to his room. He could inform them of the game night plans after he changed.

~

Game night was a lot of fun, as it turned out. Jeremy didn’t think he’d laughed this hard in his whole - admittedly rather short - life. His cheeks ached and his stomach felt like it was about to tear in half. 

“Jeremy!” Michael yelled, half enraged, half amused. “I can’t believe you were lying about the Duke the whole time!”

The crew had introduced Jeremy to a game called Coup, and he had taken to it like a fish to water. The others were laughing just as hard as he was, enjoying Michael’s faux anger at having been tricked by the Phoenix yet again. Jack was wiping tears from his eyes, and Gavin had crumpled to the floor in a giggling heap. Michael threw his hands up.

“Well, I guess Jeremy wins,” he sighed.

“We’ve created a monster!” Geoff cried, clutching at his stomach. Jeremy turned to Michael, smiling sheepishly. 

“Sorry, Michael.”

The Dragon shook his head with a grin.

“Don’t apologise,” he said. “That was amazing.”

“Yeah!” Geoff yelled, pointing towards Jeremy. “I think you might just be my new favourite, Jeremy.”

Jeremy felt like he was glowing. He was sure the others could see his Lustre quite clearly with how overwhelmed by emotion he was, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He had felt accepted by the crew for days now, and he would even go so far as calling them friends. But in this moment, stomach aching from laughter, surrounded by a crew that had welcomed him with open arms, Jeremy felt like he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more wonderful art! [Here](https://keeningarts.tumblr.com/post/626280775722139648) is Dragon Michael in his hybrid form! Again, thank you so much [Clay!](https://keeningthoughts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Apologies for the weak ending, this chapter was hit the hardest by the editing process. For anyone that read the original chapter, I promise I'll write a scene later on down the track where we get a full game of something!


	7. Chapter 6 - Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief warning for the vague description and mention of a very minor panic attack in this chapter.

Geoff had called Jeremy to his office. It would be a lie to say the Phoenix wasn’t at least a little bit stressed about this. Sure, everything was probably fine; Jeremy had been with the Fakes for a month now and things had been almost totally smooth sailing, but a call to Geoff’s office meant business. Jeremy really had no idea what to expect. He raised his hand and gingerly knocked on the office door.

“Come in.” Geoff’s voice was muffled, but Jeremy could still hear the command. His mouth was feeling very dry all of a sudden. He swallowed. Then throwing caution to the wind, he turned the handle and pushed open the door. As was often the case, Geoff was seated at his desk. He was reclined in his leather chair, with his feet propped up on the mahogany surface. Jeremy, noticing the casual posture, started to relax, sure that this meeting wasn’t going to be about anything negative. He hesitated when he noticed someone sitting in one of the chairs across from Geoff.

_ Michael. _

Jeremy frowned. He was suddenly even more curious about why he had been called in. What could Geoff have to say to him and Michael? Had someone seen them the other day, when Michael had shifted? Were they in trouble?

**_Calm down little chick._ **

_ Heph… _

**_Stop overthinking, just listen to what Geoff has to say._ **

As if sensing Jeremy’s internal panic, Geoff gave him a reassuring smile. 

“Sit down, Jeremy. You aren’t in trouble,” he soothed. Michael turned around to face him and Jeremy noticed the eager grin adorning the Dragon’s face. He relaxed, and quickly crossed the room and sat in the chair beside Michael.

“Michael assures me you’ve made excellent progress at the gun range, and I’ve seen first hand how good you are at hand-to-hand combat.” 

Jeremy flushed a pleased pink. His training sessions with the crew had grown more and more extreme now that he was mostly on par with the others’ skills. Perks of centuries worth of muscle memory Jeremy supposed. Most recently, Michael had taken to sparring in his hybrid form, forcing Jeremy to put his growing control over his shielding powers into use. Michael was supernaturally strong in human form, let alone with the aid of his half Dragon form, so Jeremy found himself almost entirely on the defensive during these sessions. But, it was good practice, and he was growing more and more confident in his ability to throw up a shield without much effort by the day. 

He had enjoyed taking a back seat again to watch Geoff and Michael go at it. That was an experience that made Jeremy much more wary of the crew’s boss, as Geoff effortlessly toppled the hybrid Dragon to the mat again and again. When Jeremy had asked Geoff how he managed to overpower the Dragon, Geoff had laughed and shaken his head. “Michael’s easy to read” had been the only explanation Jeremy ever received. 

“In light of this,” Geoff’s voice pulled Jeremy back to the current conversation. “I think you’re ready for your first job.”

It took a few seconds for this information to sink in, but once it did, it left Jeremy almost bouncing in his chair with excitement. There was a quiet giggle beside him and Jeremy turned to look at the source. Michael definitely seemed alight with a new kind of energy that Jeremy was yet to see, and he assumed Michael was as excited to be going on a job as he was. It had been a while since any of them had been on a job, choosing to focus on training up Jeremy rather than preparing for a new heist. Although, Jack and Geoff had been communicating with their contacts and extended allies recently.

_ Perhaps the job has something to do with that? _

Jeremy pushed those thoughts aside. The reasoning behind the job was unimportant, that could come later. Suddenly realising he had spent the last few seconds staring into space, he cleared his throat and turned back towards Geoff. 

“What kind of job?” he asked. Geoff slid some of the papers strewn across his desk towards Jeremy.

“Recon.” He pointed at a photo of a nondescript building. “This is a warehouse on the outskirts of town.” Jeremy pulled the photo closer when Michael made no move to look at it; he assumed Michael had already been briefed. 

“We have reason to suspect it’s being used as a weapons cache, and we would like to know what kind of weapons, in case they’re ever used against us. Know thy enemy and all that.” Michael snorted at the use of the expression and Geoff gave him a shit-eating grin in return. Geoff turned back to Jeremy and gestured at Michael. 

“This idiot is nowhere near our best at a stealth mission, but he’s good at breaking into places and knows how to handle a situation if it goes tits up. You two will be going on this mission together.” 

Even though he had suspected this, Jeremy was still filled with a rush of excited energy when Geoff confirmed it. He turned to Michael and wasn’t surprised to see a matching grin on his face. Despite their somewhat rocky start, the two of them got on like a house on fire. In fact, the metaphor was almost a little too… literal. Michael reveled in chaos and Jeremy was all too happy to run with whatever the Dragon started. It had quickly resulted in a strong friendship and far too many inside jokes to keep up with. Going on a mission together sounded like it had the potential to easily devolve into a fiery mess, but at the end of the day, Michael was a member of the most notorious criminal gang for a reason. He’d make for a great partner. Jeremy was lost in thought again and Geoff cleared his throat pointedly. 

“We still have a few details to run through, don’t get too ahead of yourselves.” Michael and Jeremy both whipped round to face Geoff, admonished. 

As Geoff ran over the plan, Jeremy could almost feel waves of excitement rolling off of Michael. It was contagious and Jeremy found the same eagerness rising in him, dampened only slightly by the nervousness of his first job. This nervousness was only heightened when Geoff revealed that the job was taking place that night. They were sent away with instructions to spend the day preparing and Michael disappeared with a final grin and a “see you later”. Jeremy left him to whatever he was doing and tried to prepare both physically and mentally. The mission was supposed to be a stealth one, so Jeremy only packed lightly in the way of weapons: a pistol and two knives. Geoff had said he wouldn’t need anything more than that. The mental prep was slightly more difficult. Now that Michael’s contagious enthusiasm was gone, the anxiety of going on a mission hit him full force. He turned to his spirit for some much needed comfort and assurance. 

_ What if I ruin the mission? _

**_It is your first mission. I am sure they are not expecting you to be perfect first go. Just do your best._ **

Jeremy sighed, hugging his legs to his chest, curling himself into a ball on his bed where he sat. He was afraid to voice his most pressing concerns, but realised that Heph would know anyway. As much as one can in their own mind, he whispered,

_ What if my best isn’t good enough? _

There was a pause as Heph hesitated. Eventually the firebird seemed to come to some conclusion.

**_This time, I believe it will be._ **

****~

Jeremy was pacing. Michael had said to meet him outside and then disappeared to go collect whatever car they would be taking, but that had been almost ten minutes ago and Jeremy was starting to worry. He didn’t get far with the worrying, however, as a dark car pulled up in front of him. He couldn’t see Michael through the windows - they looked armoured which eased Jeremy’s nerves somewhat - but there was no one else on the road at this time of night so it was a safe assumption to make. He jumped into the passenger's seat and closed the door, probably a little harder than necessary. He went to pull the seatbelt on but he yanked a little too hard and it locked. He swore under his breath and let it go before pulling again, a little gentler. He got it across himself but found he struggled to clip it in.

**_Jeremy._ **

_ It’s not clipping in- _

**_Jeremy. Your hands are shaking._ **

_ Heph it won’t clip in- _

“Phoenix?”

He head snapped to look at the man in the driver’s seat. Michael was frowning, looking down at Jeremy’s hands. His eyes flicked up to Jeremy’s and his gaze firmed.

“Jeremy. Deep breaths. Copy me.”

Jeremy nodded. Breathing. He could do that. Michael’s chest was rising and falling slowly. Jeremy did his best to match his own breaths to the rhythm. Eventually the two of them were breathing in synchrony. It took a moment, but Jeremy soon calmed down. His hands were still shaking, but it was only a small tremble, and he was able to click his seatbelt into place. Michael was watching him carefully and he hesitantly met the other man’s stare. 

“Better?”

Jeremy took in another deep, steadying breath, and then nodded. He was still nervous, but the overwhelming panic had receded. Michael squinted at him briefly before returning Jeremy’s nod with a firm one of his own. He started the car again - Jeremy hadn’t even noticed it was turned off - and they pulled out into the street. Michael was clearly waiting for Jeremy to break the silence if the sideways glances were anything to go by, and it brought a small smile to Jeremy’s face. For all of the Dragon’s teasing and harsh words, he did care for the crew, and in moments like these Jeremy could see that clear as day.

“Thank you, for… y’know,” Jeremy said, voice sounding unexpectedly loud in the silence of the car. Michael hummed.

“Gavin used to…” he trailed off with an awkward shrug. “Practice, I guess.”

Jeremy nodded and decided not to push. He fiddled with the strap of his seatbelt, unsure if he should ask the question that was threatening to spill from his lips. He huffed, gripped the strap tightly in his fist. 

“Were you nervous?”

Michael grinned, eyes still focused on the road ahead of him.

“On my first mission with the crew? Nah. By that point I’d been putting up with the trouble Gavin gets himself into for a good few centuries. Robbing some rich asshole has nothing on that.”

His comment pulled a laugh out of Jeremy who was suddenly very grateful that his first mission was with someone as unflappable as Michael. His presence was surprisingly reassuring. The car fell silent again as Jeremy collected his thoughts. He tried to focus on the mission at hand, but something was bothering him. Geoff hadn’t mentioned who owned the warehouse they were scoping out, and that could be because it was no one important. However, the hushed conversation Jeremy had overheard the other day came to mind, and he couldn't bring himself to dismiss it as coincidence. He sighed, and the noise pulled Michael’s attention to him with a curious glance.

“Did Geoff tell you who they think owns this warehouse?” Jeremy asked quietly. Michael’s eyebrows rose as he focused back on the road.

“Nah. He said he didn’t think it was important yet. Why? What’s up?” Michael sent another glance his way, and a hint of concern pulled at his brow. Jeremy chewed his lip. Michael was unlikely to care that he had overheard the conversation, but if Geoff was keeping the information from them then it had to be for a reason. 

_ But if my suspicion is right… _

**_You could possibly be in danger tonight._ **

Heph voiced Jeremy’s worry with a tone of finality that was not reassuring, but helped him make up his mind.

_ Fuck it. _

“Promise you won’t tell Geoff?” Jeremy could tell Michael was not expecting this question and the Dragon narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but it was playful. 

“Sure,” he said, mouth pulling up at the corner. 

“I um. I overheard Geoff and Jack talking,” Jeremy started. Michael snorted beside him but didn’t say anything and Jeremy continued. “They were talking about a new group in town. One that might also be Creatures.” 

Michael hummed, brow furrowed. 

“Explains why Geoff is so interested in the weapons they have,” he muttered, almost as if thinking aloud. Then Michael sighed and shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do until Geoff tells us what’s going on. Rumours like this pop up every so often, could just be nothing.”

Michael’s words did little to appease Jeremy. He looked deep in thought, brow still pulled into a frown, and it sounded like he didn’t believe his own words as he said them. Eventually Jeremy slumped back into his seat. There wasn’t anything he could do now except be on alert. Michael knew to be cautious too; they weren’t going into this totally blind. Jeremy allowed himself to relax slightly, and settled in for the rest of the drive. 

~

Jeremy was too terrified to even breathe for fear of making noise. Michael had pulled off the road a quarter mile back, concealing their car behind a small cluster of trees and bushes. They were approaching the warehouse on foot and Jeremy was thankful for the few buildings surrounding their target, providing them with some much-needed cover. As Geoff had learned in a drive-by scout a week ago, there were two guards stationed by the main roller door at the front of the warehouse. They had planned to approach the building from the side - expecting at least one guard at the back - and making use of the shelter the neighbouring buildings provided. 

Jeremy was close behind Michael, trying as much as possible to follow the man’s exact footsteps. They were approaching the edge of the building next to the warehouse when Michael stopped abruptly.

“Just one guard out back. We’ll wait till he turns away.” Michael’s whisper was barely audible, but Jeremy was on high alert and got the message, holding steady as he waited for Michael to move. As he waited, no longer focused on moving quietly, he realised just how close behind Michael he was. The back of Michael’s signature brown leather jacket was just inches from his face, and he let his eyes fall on the painted wolf snarling at him from the leather. Jeremy grinned. It was a very Michael jacket. Before he got too distracted, Michael moved, and Jeremy hastily shoved down any thoughts not related to the mission. 

Their plan was to enter through a window, but they had no information as to what, or who, may be inside, so it was Jeremy’s job to check first. It was this part of the mission that filled Jeremy with the most dread. As the windows were high on the side of the building, he was in the unfortunate position of requiring a boost from Michael. The other man was already in position; standing close to the wall as possible with his hands linked in front of him. Jeremy wasn’t worried about being heavy - he knew Michael was probably capable of lifting a car above his head - he was just not looking forward to the jokes about his height he knew this would fuel. He carefully placed his foot in Michael’s hands and pushed up. With no effort at all, Michael was able to hoist him high enough to peek through the window. 

The lights were on in the warehouse and it took a couple seconds of rapid blinking before Jeremy’s eyes, used to the dark of a cloudy night, adjusted. Once they did, he took in the scene inside the warehouse. There was less in there than Jeremy expected and he was confused as to why they would need a whole warehouse to store so little; even as small a warehouse as this. Three crates sat in the middle of the floor. The rest of the building was empty. So taken aback by the lack of, well, anything, Jeremy didn’t notice the group of five men until one of them had noticed him. Their eyes found each other in the same moment and Jeremy panicked. He quickly ducked down, desperately hoping the men wouldn’t realise, but in his haste he miscalculated, and slammed his forehead into the window frame. Momentarily blinded by pain, and pouring all of his effort into not swearing out loud, Jeremy paid no attention to his surroundings until he realised he had been lowered to the ground and was now face to face with Michael. The pain wasn’t enough to make him cry, but the fear of realising he’d just royally fucked up his first mission was almost enough to do it. Fully prepared to see brown eyes flaming with anger, Jeremy was thrown off balance when he looked at Michael and realised the Dragon was trying incredibly hard not to laugh.

“You good?” he managed to wheeze. Jeremy, too stunned to do much else, just nodded. Michael took a few calming breaths until he had his suppressed giggles under control and looked towards the entrance of the warehouse. “They definitely heard you. The two at the front will be coming round to check.” 

Jeremy watched him scan the alley before his eyes landed on a dumpster. He grabbed Jeremy’s arm and dragged him behind it. 

“Jeremy.” 

Jeremy finally snapped out of the daze his collision brought with it. Michael was grinning at him.

“You good to shoot?”

Taking a deep breath to calm his rising panic, Jeremy breathed out an affirmative and pulled his pistol from his hip.

“Alright. You take the left one.” Michael moved into a more stable crouch and raised himself enough to see over the top of the dumpster. “After one,” he whispered. “Three, two, one.”

Jeremy sprung up from his hiding place, eyes quickly finding the men that had just rounded the corner. He didn’t have time to breathe, to think, he just pulled the trigger and prayed his weeks of target practice paid off. There were two bangs, one only a split second behind the other. Two bodies crumpled to the ground.

“Nice shot!” Michael whisper-cheered and Jeremy grinned at him, panic lost under the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He suddenly remembered what he had seen inside.

“There are five of them inside. Not a lot of cover, the warehouse is pretty empty. There’s a raised platform on the right and some shelves near the back.”

Michael nodded and made to move out from their hiding spot when there was the sound of scuffling footsteps behind them. Before Jeremy could even think to turn around, Michael had raised his gun and fired. The guard from the back door had obviously heard the gunshots and come to investigate. His body now lay with the others on the ground. Jeremy looked back at Michael. The grin on his face had turned impish.

“No witnesses if everyone’s dead, right?”

Jeremy let out a quiet, disbelieving chuckle, shaking his head at the other man, even as a matching grin grew across his face.

“Lead the way.”

Michael spun on his heel and marched towards the front of the warehouse. Not bothering to keep quiet anymore, Jeremy hurried to follow him. The front of the warehouse was mostly occupied by a large roller door, but there was a small side door on the right, squeezed in just before the end of the wall. A few paces short of the door, Michael threw out his arm to stop Jeremy. His brow furrowed as he cocked his head, and Jeremy guessed that he was listening to footsteps of the men inside; making use of his heightened Dragon senses. After a second the frown turned into a smirk and he turned to Jeremy. 

“Come on, I have a plan. Follow my lead.” And then he was moving, hand reaching to turn the doorknob in front of him. Jeremy just huffed and double checked the safety on his handgun before stepping up behind Michael.

“When I open the door, duck down behind the-”

“The raised platform,” Jeremy finished. “Got it.”

Michael nodded and that was all the warning Jeremy got before he kicked the door in. Michael fired three blind covering shots around the door, and Jeremy didn’t hesitate. He ducked down and slid through the door, going a couple feet before he reached the raised platform, which he hid behind. Without pause, he raised his arm and quickly fired his own covering shots, letting Michael slide in beside him. They were met with a spray of bullets over their heads. Two of the men were moving forwards in an attempt to get an angle on their position. Michael and Jeremy made eye contact. 

“I’ll get the left,” Jeremy said. Michael nodded and sprang towards the approaching men, yelling “go!” Jeremy pushed himself up and as Michael ran, he raised his gun and fired. Michael’s shot was only a second behind. Two more bodies fell to the ground. Jeremy ran forwards, hot on Michael’s heels, and they dove behind the crates in the centre of the warehouse. The remaining three men on the other side of the crates began moving. Jeremy poked his head around the right side to see. They seemed to be trying to flank, one man rounding each side of the crates, while the other retreated towards the shelf near the back of the room. Jeremy looked back at Michael. The other man seemed to have had the same idea he had and all it took was a small tilt of Jeremy’s head before Michael nodded. The Phoenix was momentarily distracted as Michael’s eyes pulsed with the warm red light Jeremy now knew was his Lustre. It was brighter than he had ever seen it before, and it took a great deal of effort to pull his own eyes away and focus on what was going on around them. Jeremy turned, facing away from Michael, but every other sense remained tuned into the Dragon’s movements, so much so that when Michael barely breathed the word “now”, he sprung into action once more. In unison, they broke from their cover, weapons raised and already hunting for their mark. Two more shots rang out; two more bodies fell to the ground. 

“Nice, Jeremy!” Michael’s voice rang out across the warehouse, full of exhilaration. The final man had run behind the shelf at the back, and the two Fakes moved on instinct to either end. Jeremy moved quickly, darting around the corner of the shelf with his gun raised. There the man was, frozen in fear as he locked eyes with Jeremy. Jeremy fired, Michael fired. The man fell to the ground between them and Jeremy was left looking into Michael’s eyes. They wore matching grins. Michael made his way over to Jeremy, carefully stepping over the body on his way.

“Hey we make a pretty good team,” Michael said, face still split by a wide smile.

“Hell yeah we do!” Jeremy replied with a breathless laugh. As Michael reached his side, the Dragon held out a fist. Jeremy felt warmed to the bone by the action and hastened to bump Michael’s fist with his own. They stood there for a second, grinning like idiots, as they waited for their adrenaline to settle. Michael jerked his head towards the crates.

“Let’s go see what they’re hiding.”

The crates seemed unassuming to Jeremy, not really knowing what he should be looking for, but Heph tensed and manifested on Jeremy’s shoulder, using it as a launching platform to take to the air before landing on the highest crate.

**They definitely look like they could be weapon crates.**

Michael nodded.

“I was thinking the same thing.” He grabbed the padlock keeping one of the crates locked and before Jeremy realised what was happening, he had snapped it. Jeremy suppressed a shiver at the reminder of just how strong Michael was. Michael wouldn’t hurt him; he was sure of that. The Dragon had managed to push the lid off the crate and Heph gasped at what was inside. 

“Fuck,” Michael breathed. “That’s not good.”

Jeremy hurried over, good mood forgotten. He peered over Michael’s shoulder and into the crate. Immediately he was confused.

“Are those… wood?” he asked, voice barely louder than a whisper. Michael sighed and ran a hand through his curls. The grin was gone; he looked stressed. 

“They’re wooden stakes. And I’d bet anything those bottles are full of Ichor.” The way that Michael spat the unfamiliar word, voice poisonous, confused and worried Jeremy. Michael must have noticed as he said, “Just because we’re immortal, doesn’t mean there aren’t ways we can be killed.”

Jeremy flinched. He thought about his nightmares, the cold, dark waters, the ache in his lungs. Even though he regenerated, he still knew the fear of death. When he finally broke free from his thoughts, Michael had got another crate open. There was a hiss, but Jeremy couldn’t tell if it had been Heph or Michael; both looked equally disturbed. 

**Silver weapons.**

Jeremy jumped as Michael slammed his fists down onto the crate. The noise echoed in the empty warehouse.

“Someone knows. Someone knows we’re Creatures. And they want us dead.”

Jeremy shivered at the ice in Michael’s voice. Heph took off and came to rest on Jeremy’s shoulder again, nuzzling into his neck comfortingly. Michael growled in frustration and pushed himself away from the crates.

“I need to call Geoff. We can’t leave these here for anyone else to take.” He pulled his phone out and jabbed at the screen until it began to ring. Jeremy was surprised when Michael put the call on speaker phone. Geoff picked up after the third ring.

_ “Michael? Did everything go okay? Is Jeremy alright?”  _

Michael snorted and gave Jeremy a small smile that the Phoenix quickly returned.

“I’m fine Geoff,” he said, and was secretly touched by the relieved sigh Geoff let out. After the discovery in the crates, Jeremy had almost forgotten it was his first mission.

“He’s more than fine, I’d already rather him on a mission than Gavin.” Michael sent a sly grin Jeremy’s way as he said this. Geoff laughed.

_ “Anyone’s preferable to Gavin. So why are you calling? Something’s up, otherwise you’d just come home.” _

Michael’s smile twisted into something more wry. Geoff could be rather perceptive when he wanted to be.

“You need to come out here… bring something you can transport a few crates in. Can’t leave this shit unguarded,” Michael replied. They waited as the muffled sound of Geoff telling Jack to get a truck ready came through the speakers before the Vampire spoke into the phone again.

_ “On our way. But, why? What do they have?” _

“Weapons,” Michael said, voice hard. “Weapons to kill Creatures with.” There was a pause as Geoff processed this.

_ “Shit.” _

Michael only huffed in agreement. 

_ “Fuck. That’s what we were afraid of. Shit.” _ Geoff groaned through the phone.  _ “We’ll be there soon. You two just sit tight. We can talk more about this later.” _

Michael sighed, mumbled a quick “sure, Geoff,” and ended the call. Jeremy shuffled his feet until Michael flopped onto the floor, back propped up against one of the crates. 

“Come sit your ass down,” he mumbled. “They could be a while.” 

Jeremy gave the Dragon a careful smile and joined him on the floor. As he was getting comfortable, Michael’s eyes slipped closed. 

“Wake me up when they get here.” His voice was low and slurred, and Jeremy snorted, surprised at how quickly the adrenaline comedown had knocked the Dragon out.

“Sure thing, Michael,” he murmured, and settled in for the wait.


	8. Chapter 7 - Rimmy Fucking Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this chapter comes with a content warning for themes of homophobia. If you aren't into that, stop reading after "He spent a second basking in the warm glow of Gavin's friendship" and I'll chuck a summary at the end of the chapter about the important details after that. It's not detailed or really shown in the moment, more just discussed, but I wanted to put up a warning just in case.

The whole crew was gathered in the penthouse lounge. At this point only Gavin was totally in the dark, but Jeremy felt he still had a very poor grasp on the implications of their current situation. The chairs had once again been moved from their normal position to a semi circle, something that had yet to happen since Jeremy’s initiation a month ago. He was fairly confident this only occurred when serious discussions needed to happen, and judging by the way Gavin was squirming in his chair, the others seemed to believe the same. Geoff sat heavily on a couch next to Jack, a glass of what Jeremy recently learned was definitely not wine in his hand. Geoff cleared his throat, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

“Most of you know at least a little bit of what’s going on, but I thought it was high time Jack and I explained in full.” Jeremy glanced at Gavin and saw the confusion written on his face. Geoff sighed.

“We didn’t want to bring it up before, because there’s no point worrying you unnecessarily, but after what Jeremy and Michael found tonight, I think this is something we all need to be aware of.” The confusion on Gavin’s face quickly transformed into concern. Geoff scrubbed at his face with the hand not preoccupied with his wine glass, and Jack let his hand rest reassuringly on Geoff’s knee. 

“We have reason to believe someone out there means to do us harm.” 

Gavin scoffed at the remark, but Geoff held his hand out to quiet him. 

“We also have reason to believe they know we’re creatures.” The room fell silent. Gavin’s look of confusion slipped off his face and eyebrows seemed to be torn between rising in shock and furrowing in concern, leaving them twitching somewhere in between. Eventually Michael broke the silence.

“Start from the beginning, what’s happening?”

Jeremy turned towards Geoff, he was curious about this too, only knowing what he had overheard and discovered last night. However it was Jack that spoke first.

“About four months ago we heard whispers of a new group in town that they seemed to be looking for someone. We didn’t pay much attention to it, that sort of thing happens all the time. They went quiet, and we assumed they had moved on.” Jack tugged on his beard subconsciously. He paused, seemingly unsure about what to say next, and Geoff took over.

“Three weeks ago the whispers started again, except this time they were more concerning. This new group had obviously spent those quiet months settling in. And once they had, their mission seemed to be finding information on us.” Geoff paused to gather his thoughts, chewing absentmindedly on his lip. Jeremy found himself staring, attention drawn to Geoff’s unnaturally sharp canines. Eventually the vampire seemed to settle on how to proceed. 

“Some of our contacts were harassed. A couple were beaten.” Jeremy saw Michael tense out of the corner of his eye. 

“Some supplies of ours were stolen, nothing major, so we didn’t think much of it at the time.” As Geoff took a breath, Jack jumped back in.

“Especially because we weren’t the only ones with stolen supplies.” Geoff nodded.

“Yeah, other people were dealing with similar things. So we didn’t worry.”

Sensing what they were getting at, Gavin, in a voice that barely carried across the room said, “Until tonight.” 

Geoff huffed.

“Yes. Until tonight.” He looked at Michael and waved a hand in a vague gesture for him to take over. Michael leant forwards, his arm slipping off where it rested on the couch behind Gavin and instead moving to rest on the Fae’s knee.

“Jeremy and I raided one of their warehouses tonight. They’re stocking up on weapons. We found stakes, Ichor, and silver weapons.”

Jeremy watched Gavin flinch as Michael said Ichor in the same poisonous tone as he had earlier that night. Jeremy assumed that was bad news for Fae then.

“We don’t think they know exactly what we are, and are just preparing easy weapons for common Creatures. Obviously silver doesn’t affect any of us, so that’s our biggest clue.”

Geoff nodded and leaned back, almost slumping into Jack’s side.

“And that’s where we’re at now,” he said.

There was a beat of silence while everyone processed. Eventually Michael spoke.

“So, are we going to fuck them up?”

Gavin snorted, slapping his hand over his face to stop the drink he had just sipped from leaking out his nose. Geoff gave Michael a weary smile.

“As much as we would all love to do that, no. Not yet, at least,” he hastily added when it looked like Michael was going to protest. Jack moved his arm so Geoff was comfortably tucked into his side and agreed.

“Geoff is right, it’s far too dangerous to attack them now. We don’t know their numbers, what other weaponry they might have, and we can’t rule out the possibility that there aren’t Creatures among them either.”

Gavin hummed.

“It would make sense if there were, considering the weapons; especially the Ichor.”

A shared grimace travelled around the room, skipping Jeremy who still wasn’t sure what ichor was.

**_Fae poison._ **

_ I’d gathered that. What is it made from? _

**_The blood of other Creatures. Blood not given willingly._ **

Jeremy felt himself pale.

_ Oh… _

“We need more information before we do anything. Jack and I will be putting all of our resources into getting it,” Geoff was saying. Gavin interrupted him before he could continue.

“Can we help?”

The Vampire sighed.

“When we’ve come up with a way you can help I promise we’ll tell you. For now, I want all of you laying low and being cautious.”

Jeremy nodded. That was something he felt sure he could do.

“And keep on high alert. If you’re going out, don’t go alone, and stick to public places.”

Michael snorted.

“Like being in public stops crime from happening here.”

Jack gave him an exasperated look.

“It will stop them pulling any funny Creature business. I’m sure you’re all capable of dealing with normal crime.”

Jeremy couldn’t help but smile at their banter. Despite the overall distressing tone of their conversation, the casual back and forth put him at ease; gave him hope. They would be alright.

~

“You need a look.”

Jeremy jolted from where he was sitting on the couch, the tablet in his hands falling to the ground with a clatter.

“Jesus, Gav! You scared the shit out of me!” 

The Fae had the audacity to giggle at him, but he did pick up the fallen tablet and carefully placed it on the coffee table.

“Sorry, Jeremy, couldn’t resist.” Gavin gave Jeremy his most innocent smile, and the Phoenix couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly. 

“You’re a little shit.”

The grin on Gavin’s face melted into a look of theatrical horror.

“Jeremy! That’s rude!”

Jeremy ginned at him.

“Damn right it is. What the fuck did you even say?”

Almost as if he was just reminded of why he interrupted Jeremy in first place, Gavin’s eyes lit up with a kind of excitement that Jeremy had quickly learned to be wary of. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“You need a look! And a nickname! Y’know, now that you’re a proper part of the crew and all.”

The suspicion left Jeremy’s eyes and he couldn’t help the warm smile that replaced it. It was the smile that seemed to always appear whenever one of the Fakes reminded him of his secure place within the crew. As Gavin’s words registered, the very last of the lingering suspicion was forgotten, and instead Jeremy felt his own excitement begin to bubble at the very core of his being. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t entertained the idea of what his aesthetic and role would be if he ever managed to join the Fakes. In fact, it had often been a comforting thought he returned to on particularly lonely nights. He’d never settled on any one idea, but was quite sure he liked the obnoxious garishness that Gavin had going on with his. Jeremy realised he had yet to answer Gavin, and instead was just staring at him with a growing, foolish grin on his face. It fell a little when he thought about his current wardrobe.

“I don’t really have anything suitable for a crew outfit.”

To his surprise, Gavin’s smile only grew.

“I know that, silly Jeremy. That’s why we’re going shopping!”

It was hard not to be affected by Gavin’s excitement, and by the time the two of them had squeezed into Gavin’s beaten up purple Blista, they were both giggling and singing along with the radio that poured out of their open windows. Gavin drove through the city to a clothing shop, breaking almost every traffic law and only getting lost three times on the way.

Jeremy quickly came to the conclusion that this was a shop the Fakes frequented when the clerk at the counter’s only response to one of the city’s most famous criminals walking in was a deep sigh. Gavin ignored them. Instead he dragged Jeremy over to a rack of shirts and immediately started rifling through them. 

“Do you have any ideas about what you like, Jeremy?”

Jeremy shrugged. He was a little embarrassed to admit he liked Gavin’s bold colour choices, but figured the Fae had never made fun of him before.

“Bright colours? Maybe something a little obnoxious?”

Gavin paused at his words, gaze hovering on the shirt he had just discovered. His grin grew impossibly wider. 

“Like this?”

The shirt he pulled out was one of the most horrific shirts Jeremy had ever seen. It was mostly black, with cartoonish flames dancing up from the bottom and the sleeves looked like they had been ripped off. Jeremy let out a snort of laughter. 

“Christ, Gav, that’s awful.” He turned to the rack nearest to him and grabbed the first ugly shirt he could find. “I was thinking something more like this.” It was tie-dyed, poorly, and had a wobbly weed leaf in the centre of the chest. Gavin began to giggle, little squeaks slipping out between his gasping breaths.

“Oh it’s on, Jeremy.”

Jeremy was surprised they weren’t kicked out. They moved like a hurricane through the shop, picking out the most obnoxious and garish items of clothing they could find. Eventually they moved to the changing rooms where they could combine one awful item with another. Jeremy had doubled over with laughter when Gavin paired the flame top with a pair of salmon shorts, and almost passed out when the Fae declared he actually liked the shorts and planned to buy them. Currently, the Phoenix was trying on what he thought was his most atrocious outfit yet. He had paired some bright yellow pants with an equally bright orange tee that clashed quite nicely. On top of the orange shirt he had slipped on a gaudy purple blazer, and while he had been taking his haul to the changing room, had scooped up a white cowboy hat, which now sat on top of his head. He grinned at his reflection. Gavin was going to love this. He paused before he wrenched open the dressing room curtain. His gaze lingered on his reflection.

_ I think I actually like this one.. _

**_It is an eyesore_ **

_ Shut up, Heph. _

**_… It suits you._ **

Jeremy laughed at his spirit and finally pulled open the curtains, striking a pose for Gavin who was waiting on the other side. Already giggly from before, as soon as he registered what Jeremy was wearing, Gavin was hunched over, clutching at his sides as he cackled. 

“Jeremy! What is that?!”

Jeremy grinned.

“It’s my new crew outfit, Gav!”

The Fae howled.

“Yeah? Wot’s your codename then?”

Jeremy paused, he hadn’t thought about that. He racked his brains for a name that would match the appalling outfit, and settled on the first thing that came to mind.

“Rimmy fucking Tim.”

Gavin collapsed. He was rolling on the floor, tears in his eyes as he wheezed out, “Rimmy Tim! Jeremy that’s bloody fantastic!”

Jeremy joined him in laughter. While it has started as another attempt to make Gavin laugh, the name was very quickly growing on Jeremy, just as the outfit was. When they had both recovered from their fits of laughter, Jeremy, after checking his reflection one last time, turned to Gavin.

“Gavin. I’m going to get this.”

The Fae beamed at him.

“Brilliant, Jeremy. I think it’s fantastic.”

Fighting the blush that threatened to crawl onto his cheeks at the sincerity of Gavin’s words, Jeremy gave him an answering smile.

“Come on, let's buy these, you can wear the outfit out.”

Gavin paid for both of them. Jeremy attempted to protest, but quickly realised he didn’t actually have the means to pay for his own items. He drifted back towards the front of the shop while Gavin dealt with the clerk. He was officially a Fake. Of course, he had been for a month now, but as he stood there in his crew gear, repeating his new codename in his head, it finally felt real. He was dragged from his thoughts, quite literally, as Gavin pulled him by the elbow out of the shop.

“Come on, Jeremy. We’ve got to go show the others!”

Jeremy let himself be dragged a little way down the street towards where they were parked, but Gavin stopped before they made it to the car.

“I almost forgot! I got you something.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his signature golden sunglasses and quickly slid them onto his face. He reached into his pocket again, and this time produced a pair of aviators. Gavin very carefully unfolded the arms, and after a nod of consent from Jeremy, gently placed them onto the Phoenix’s face. 

“There you go! Now we match!” Gavin was beaming at him, and Jeremy knew his face must have been a mirror image. He spent a second basking in the warm glow of Gavin’s easy friendship. Gavin twitched, as if he was about to move towards the car, when there was a shout from across the street. A man he yelled something at them, a word Jeremy did not know, but - judging by the way his back went ramrod straight, and all the joy drained from his smile - Gavin did.

“Let’s go, Jeremy.” Gavin’s voice was quiet, and there was a quiver to it that had not been there before. Heph’s presence in Jeremy’s mind had gone cold, and he felt the spirit pull away. They hurried to the car and began the drive back to the penthouse. It was quiet. Gavin had immediately turned the radio off. Jeremy spent half the drive building up enough courage to ask the question on the tip of his tongue. 

“What did he call us?”

Gavin’s frown deepened.

“A horrible, horrible word. A slur.”

“Oh.”

Jeremy still didn’t fully understand, but he could tell Gavin was upset so he let the topic go, deciding to ask Heph later.

_ When Heph eventually returns. _

His mind felt a bit empty without his spirit there to offer any comfort, but Jeremy knew Heph only pulled away for important reasons, so he wasn’t going to bother the firebird. The car fell silent again, and remained that way for the rest of the trip. When they arrived at the penthouse Gavin excused himself and disappeared, leaving Jeremy to wander to his room alone. 

_ So much for showing the crew. _

_ ~ _

The rest of the day was miserable. None of the other crew members seemed to be around, although Jeremy wasn’t sure he wanted to spend time with them at the moment anyway. Heph had been gone for hours, and Jeremy was starting to grow concerned. The spirit had never been absent for so long before. Eventually, Jeremy had given up on pretending he was going to get anything done, and had curled up under the covers of his bed, waiting for sleep to mercifully claim the rest of the day. For the first time since he had joined the Fakes, he felt alone.

**_Jeremy._ **

He had just begun to drift off into a doze when Heph’s presence gently nudged him awake. 

_ Heph… Are you okay? _

**_I am. However, there are things I would like to discuss._ **

Jeremy sat up in bed, pushing the covers off.

_ Alright. _

**_Look in the mirror._ **

He didn’t have the energy to argue with the spirit, nor did he want to upset Heph when there was clearly something going on. He did as he was told. The bathroom floor was cold on his feet as he made his way to the mirror. Jeremy hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on after the shower he had earlier. He stared at himself, first making eye contact with his reflection, then letting his gaze drift to other features. As so often happened when he was face to face with his own image, his eyes eventually came to rest on his scars. The thin pink lines that criss-crossed all the way down his chest. He didn’t need to turn around to know the ones on his back were still there. They always were. Jeremy didn’t like looking at his back. The scars there were bigger, uglier, and there were far more there than there were on his front.

**_They are from your first life. From your time as Hieronymos._ **

Jeremy stilled. Heph had never told him his first name before. Jeremy hadn’t asked, but this was mostly due to sensing some discomfort every time Heph talked about their previous lives.

_ Why don’t they heal? _

**_You were unconscious. You could not shield, nor heal, and felt the full force of the blows. Scars obtained this way in a Phoenix’s first life remain. Most of us assume this is so we can learn some kind of lesson, but ancient magic often works in strange, inexplicable ways._ **

Jeremy took this in. Slowly, eyes never leaving his reflection, he raised a hand, letting a single finger gently trace the line of one of the scars.

_ What happened? _

Heph hesitated, and Jeremy could tell this was a difficult topic. He gave the spirit time, patiently waiting until Heph felt ready to talk.

**_There are things about you that remain the same across each reincarnation. Phoenixes make for a fantastic study on the concept of nature versus nurture, but that is unimportant at the moment. All of this is to say that in every life, you have a preference for… the male gender._ **

Jeremy blushed, but didn’t interrupt, letting the firebird continue.

**_Humanity is capable of great kindness, but they are also capable of great cruelty. Over our long time on this earth, we have seen the attitudes of humanity on certain topics change and fluctuate. Many take issue with the idea of a man loving another man, and in a period of great cruelty, you, as Hieronymos, were… mistreated, simply for the act of loving another._ **

Jeremy was confused, but remembered Gavin’s strange response when Jeremy had not reacted to his and Michael’s relationship. He thought of the man today.

_ Why? _

**_I cannot begin to understand._ **

He was quiet, as he processed this information.

_ And the scars? _

Once again, a finger traced the lines on his chest.

**_One hundred lashes. They ran out of room on your back._ **

Jeremy felt his stomach turn.

_ Oh… _

**_You can understand Gavin’s fear._ **

_ Yeah. _

**_Apologies for my absence today, I spent a long time deciding whether to tell you or not._ **

Jeremy didn’t have to think about his answer to Heph’s unasked question.

_ I’m glad you did. Now I know. And I can make every effort to stop this from ever happening again. _

He felt Heph smile for the first time in hours.

**_You sound so much like Hieronymos…_ **

Jeremy smiled too, glad his spirit’s mood had been somewhat restored. He blinked, feeling like he was shaking off the last of a trance that had kept him rooted in front of the mirror. He turned away. He didn’t look to see the scars on his back, he knew they were still there. They always were. They always would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is a bit of a shorter chapter, so apologies for that, and also apologies for ending on such a downer! Next time expect some proper plot! 
> 
> For those who skipped, the main plot points you missed were Heph and Jeremy talking about his scars, which came from his first life (Phoenixes can only get scars in their first life), and he got them because he was whipped. Jeremy's name in his first life was Hieronymos, and he has always been gay throughout every reincarnation. 
> 
> Thanks guys!


	9. Chapter 8 - Aegis

“I still can’t believe you’ve never had a proper roast.” 

Jeremy rolled his eyes. This was the fifth time Michael had said this now, but Jeremy knew he was only teasing at this point. 

“I dunno, Michael, I think it’s mostly our fault for going over a month without cooking one.” Jack gave Jeremy a warm smile as he said this, and Jeremy couldn’t help but return it. 

“Yeah well… shut the fuck up.” Despite the abrasive words, Michael was grinning. He looked over his shoulder. “Hey, Jer, can you pass the salt?”

Jeremy nodded and scanned the bench top in front of him. It was scattered with used dishes, chopping boards, utensils, and various spices, and Jeremy had to shove things aside in order to finally uncover the salt shaker.

“Catch!” he said, and gently lobbed the shaker across the kitchen where it landed in Michael’s outstretched hand.

“Thanks.” Michael turned back to the gravy he was gently stirring. 

Jack had decided they were long overdue for a meal as a whole crew, and Michael had been quick with an offer to cook. While Geoff and Jack could both cook - and had done so on multiple occasions in the month and a bit Jeremy had been living with the crew - they often got caught up with business at odd hours, and, more often than not, the task of feeding everyone fell to Michael. Jeremy had learned very early on that Gavin had been banned from the kitchen, as the Fae found it very hard to resist creating a complete mess. Whenever possible, Jeremy joined whoever was cooking and tried to learn as much as he could. He didn’t like not being able to give back to the family that had so willingly taken him under their wing. He found the physical techniques came easily, just like most other things that relied heavily on muscle memory, and Jeremy felt confident he could follow a recipe and not burn the kitchen down. However, cooking without a recipe required a lot of knowledge and he liked to soak up as much as he could by watching the others bustle around the kitchen. He was currently sitting in his favoured spot; the barstool directly across from the stovetop, where had the best view of everything going on.

“Hey, Jack, can you tell me if this needs anything?” Michael gestured to the pot in front of him. “I’ve tasted it too many times and now I am numb to flavour.”

Jack snorted.

“You’ve been making the same gravy for decades, one would think you’d have it mastered by now,” he said. 

Michael rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Just taste the damn sauce.”

Jack heaved an exaggerated sigh, but obliged all the same and grabbed a clean teaspoon to dip in the gravy.

“Mm, s’fine. Tastes just as good as always.”

Michael nodded, satisfied with the answer. The sudden sound of a loud clatter caused all three men to jump. 

“Gavin!” Jack exclaimed, managing to sound both exasperated and amused at the same time as he left the kitchen to investigate. This was shortly followed by the sound of Gavin’s giggles, an apology tumbling out between the squeaks. Curious, Jeremy hopped down from his stool and poked his head around the wall separating the kitchen and dining room. Gavin had offered to lay the table and at a first glance he seemed to have finished setting the places. But it quickly became apparent that something had gone awry. By this point, Jack had also devolved into giggles, and was clutching at the corner of the table in a vain attempt to keep himself upright. Gavin stood up from where he had been crouched in the corner, and triumphantly brandished a large serving spoon in his hand. His eyes quickly found Jeremy, and the mirth in them seemed to double. 

“Jeremy!” He was still giggling, and his attempts at talking were punctuated with chuckles that seemed to break free from their restraints. “The spoon went flying, Jeremy! I can’t believe how far it went! I knocked it with my elbow and it just… went!”

Jack, who had finally started to calm down, was sent into another fit of laughter at the sheer astonishment in Gavin’s voice. Jeremy found himself unable to stop his own amusement; their laughter was contagious. 

“Hey, asshooles, help me move this shit to the table,” Michael said, appearing from around the corner with a loaded platter. The three of them hurried to collect themselves and rushed to move the food to the table. It didn’t take long, and soon they were seated and filling their plates with the various dishes that had been prepared.

Plate full, Jeremy paused before he began to eat, and glanced around the table. The seat at the end was empty. He cocked his head.

“Where’s Geoff?”

Jack looked up, and swallowed the mouthful he had already shoveled into his mouth.

“Phone call. He said it was important and he’d join us when he can.”

Jeremy nodded, and tucked into his food. He was slightly disappointed. The meals when everyone was together were always the highlight of Jeremy’s days. But, he understood. Geoff handled most of what he called ‘boring office work’ alone, and would only let Jack help when he needed it. Jeremy got the feeling he was much more comfortable running things behind the scenes than being on the front lines. Recently, there seemed to be an awful lot of ‘boring office work’ to be done, which Jeremy supposed made sense after what he and Michael had learned the other night. He only hoped this phone call wasn’t too stressful.

The four of them ate, making light conversation between mouthfuls of food. At one point, after taking his first bite of roast lamb, Jeremy let slip a quiet moan of appreciation, and all hell broke loose. The noise made Gavin snort, which quickly turned into choking as he inhaled some of the food in his mouth. Gavin’s choking fit set Jack off, who managed to spray the mouthful of water he had just sipped all over his own lap. By the time Gavin had recovered, they were all laughing and Jeremy had almost forgotten the mortification at making such an obscene sound in the first place.

It was the tail end of this scene that Geoff walked in on. They all looked up when they heard his footsteps down the hall, and Gavin opened his mouth to call out, when Geoff stepped around the corner and they could all see his face. The words died in Gavin’s throat, and the last persisting chuckles were snuffed out. Geoff looked like the physical embodiment of stress. He didn’t say anything except to quietly thank Jack for the offered serving spoon after he had sat down. Everyone was quiet. They kept eating; it felt less awkward than just sitting there waiting for Geoff to explain. After helping himself to a few mouthfuls, Geoff sighed.

“I got a phone call from someone from Aegis.”

It was like someone had pressed pause on the scene. Jeremy watched everyone slowly turn to look at Geoff. He couldn’t decipher the looks on their faces, though they all seemed tense and guarded. It was painfully obvious, however, that this was unlikely to be good news. Jeremy had never heard of Aegis, and he was about to turn to Heph for knowledge when Jack seemed to come to his senses and clear his throat. He turned to Jeremy.

“Aegis is an organised group of Creatures dedicated to keeping peace. They formed…” Jack hesitated, and his eyes briefly flicked to Michael, who gave a minute nod. Michael’s face was blank, and Jeremy very abruptly realised he had never seen the Dragon so expressionless. It was unsettling. Jeremy looked away, and settled his gaze back on Jack. 

“They formed after the Dragon slaughter. It was the most horrific and large scale attack against us we had known. We almost lost the Dragons forever, and the humans seemed to think of it as sport. I don’t think any Creature on earth at the time didn’t know. I don’t think we’ve ever been so scared.” Jack paused again to take a shaky breath.

Gavin shifted and Jeremy’s attention was pulled towards him. His face was somber, and he had reached out to grasp at Michael’s hand. The whole crew looked miserable and Jeremy felt helpless to cheer them up. 

**_The loss of life is felt much harder when death is not an inevitability._ **

Jeremy felt his own heart break at the sorrow Heph radiated. Guilt bubbled up inside him. He had the privilege of not remembering that time, but Jeremy suddenly wondered if that was the right choice to make. He was shutting out such a big moment in Creature history out of some selfish desire to experience life for himself. 

**_Stop that. You are entitled to a life free from the ones that came before it. That is nothing to feel guilty for wanting._ **

Jeremy frowned.

_ It doesn’t seem that simple Heph. _

Oblivious to the conversation happening inside Jeremy’s head, and having finally collected himself, Jack continued explaining, and Heph was cut off from responding.

“No one really knows how they formed, or who started them, but we suddenly started hearing whispers, rumours, about a group of Creatures calling themselves Aegis. The rumours were varied. They were said to be hiding the last remaining Dragons, or stopping human Hunters, or destroying knowledge on how to kill Creatures. I assume they were doing these things, but so were many Creatures at the time. Their name gave many of us hope, though. A force that was fighting back, protecting us. They grew, and at one point it seemed every Creature knew at least one other Creature working for Aegis. As they grew, they sent out a clearer message. The humans must forget we exist.”

Jeremy knew there had been a time when humans were aware of the existence of Creatures; the stories most humans now believed to be myths were once known as history. However, he was surprised to learn that it had been a response to the actions of humans that lead to Creatures hiding. He had assumed it was just a natural transition that had occurred over the years. 

Jack continued.

“It took a few generations, but eventually the humans — lacking any proof that we ever existed — stopped believing the stories that were passed down from the generations before them. And Creatures learned to live in secret. Aegis works to keep it this way. If a human comes too close to discovering something they shouldn’t, Aegis makes them forget, or… disappear.” Jack’s face twisted into a grimace as he said this. Jeremy surmised that disappearing meant death, and not in a way that Jack approved of. This intrigued him, as plenty of humans had lost their lives at the hands of the Fakes, and they weren’t always the lives of other criminals either. An uneasy feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. Aegis seemed to be a lot more than a peacekeeping force working for the good of all Creatures. 

Gavin was frowning at Geoff. He looked like he had jumped to some conclusion on his head and was afraid of being right.

“But Aegis doesn’t just deal with humans, right, Geoff?” he asked pointedly. 

Geoff ran a hand down his face.

“No,” he said. “If they think Creatures are causing too much trouble and might draw the attention of humans, then they will step in.”

Jeremy gasped as he realised what Gavin was trying to get at and Geoff held up a hand to keep them from interrupting.

“However, they still have no issue with what we do here. That’s not what they wanted to talk about.” It seemed like everyone at the table breathed a sigh of relief, but Geoff was chewing on his lip as if he wasn’t sure how to phrase whatever he was about to say next. “They’re concerned about the new group. They’ve been watching the group for years and what they’re doing here is new.”

Jack’s brow pulled into a deep frown.

“But, why?” he asked, and Jeremy was surprised by the disdain in his voice. “They have made it clear they’re quite happy to stay out of inter Creature conflicts before.”

A shared grimace made its way around the table, and Jeremy felt like he was missing a lot of information.

**_Perhaps that is something you can ask about another time._ **

Jeremy sighed internally but Heph was probably right. It didn’t look like anyone wanted to talk about that right now.

“I don’t know why they’re so interested in this, they wouldn’t tell me,” Geoff said, raising his hands in surrender at the cold look Jack sent his way. “They did say they’ll explain at a later date if…” Geoff trailed off, wringing his hands nervously. Jack raised an eyebrow at him, and Geoff sighed, deflating. “If we work with them.”

The table fell silent again. It seemed that everyone was considering what the offer could mean for them. Jeremy wasn’t sure what reason the others had to be cautious about Aegis, but the idea of help from another group in the face of what was looking to be a dangerous threat, to him it seemed like a good offer. From the resigned look in Jack’s face, Jeremy guessed he had come to the same conclusion.

“How can we trust that they’ll actually help us?” Jack asked.

Geoff gave him a significant look and said, “They said they’d give their word.” The two of them had one of their silent conversations that Jeremy was incapable of deciphering, and eventually Jack nodded.

“Okay. I guess we’re teaming up with Aegis then,” he said, and as if those words were magic, all of the tension seemed to vanish from the room. Geoff slumped down in his seat and continued eating, and after a pause, the others all followed suit. After a short period where they all continued to eat, Gavin dropped his fork with a clatter and gasped dramatically, immediately drawing the attention of everyone at the table.

“I can’t believe I forgot!” he yelled before turning to Jeremy with a deceptively charming grin. “We picked out a crew outfit for Jeremy.” 

Suddenly, all eyes were on Jeremy, staring at him expectantly. His cheeks warmed under the attention and he halfheartedly glared at Gavin for shoving him into the metaphorical spotlight. Geoff grinned at him from the end of the table, seemingly thankful for the transition to a lighter topic of conversation.

“So?” the Vampire asked. “What’s it like?”

Jeremy shrugged, suddenly very aware of just how ridiculous his chosen outfit was now that it came time to explain it.

“It’s purple and orange,” he started, and was met with a stunned silence. “With a cowboy hat,” he finished lamley. Gavin’s face was stretched into the widest grin Jeremy had seen on him when he looked to the Fae for help. Instead of helping, Gavin opened his mouth and said, “It’s hideous!”

It was enough to break the confused silence, and the crew burst into laughter. Jeremy rolled his eyes but couldn’t stifle his own giggles. He was happy to see everyone enjoying themselves after the tense conversation that had just taken place - even if it was at his expense. When Gavin’s eyes widened and he turned to Jeremy, the Phoenix knew he should probably be concerned. But the Fae’s eyes were sparkling with the green of his Lustre and he only looked partly mischievous. 

“Jeremy,” he whispered, almost reverent. “Can we dye your hair purple and orange?”

The idea set the others off in another fit of laughter, and Jeremy could definitely see the humour in the idea. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realised that he wanted to dye his hair purple and orange. Desperately. It wasn’t often these days, but Jeremy was sometimes plagued with feelings of being an imposter in his own body. Heph was always quick to shoo those thoughts away when they cropped up, but they had a nasty habit of coming back. It was hard for Jeremy to feel entirely like his own person with the knowledge of his past lives always at the back of his mind. The idea of dyeing his hair, changing his appearance to something that represents him in this life, and not the others that had come before him, it was incredibly appealing. He turned to Gavin with his most sincere smile.

“Sure, Gav, we can dye my hair.”

~

It was only much later, once they had all finished cleaning up and the crew had all gone to bed, that Jeremy had time to really mull over the conversation that had taken place over dinner. While the idea of a new group of Creatures working with them to investigate the new group seemed ideal, the response from the rest of the crew to the idea was unsettling. From what had been said, it seemed like Aegis worked for the good of Creatures, and kept them safe from threats. Why anyone would be against that, Jeremy didn’t know. He assumed there was more to it that he just didn’t know.

**_While Aegis is effective at working against human related threats, they have occasionally been… passive in regards to inter Creature issues. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is where the hesitancy stems from._ **

_ Oh… Gavin did say something about him and Michael running away during the Fae clan wars… is that the sort of thing Aegis might have been passive with? _

**_It is likely._ **

Jeremy hummed. That would explain the hesitancy. Especially considering their current situation could be considered an inter Creature issue.

_ I wonder why Aegis is interested in this group? _

Heph chuckled, and it was a warm and fond thing.

**_It is silly to keep yourself awake pondering questions that do not have answers you can know. Sleep._ **

Jeremy smiled at his spirit. While he loved the family he had found with the crew, there would always be a soft spot in his heart for Heph. His spirit would always be there to look out for him. It was with this thought that Jeremy finally drifted off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for continuing to read and support this fic I appreciate every single one of you!


	10. Chapter 9 - Even Immortals Can Dye

Jeremy let his mind quiet as he focused on projecting his aura. The shallow cut across Jack's palm sealed closed, flesh knitting itself back together almost as quickly as it had been split apart by the blade. When the wound was fully healed Jeremy let go, and heaved in a breath of air. Jack hummed. 

“I think five in a row is enough for today. Catch your breath, you’ve pushed yourself pretty hard.” 

Jeremy nodded, taking a moment to focus on his breathing as he attempted to get it back under control. Jack washed the knife and returned it to the block on the bench. Jeremy watched as the Dryad absentmindedly opened and closed the hand Jeremy had just healed. Now that Jeremy could heal a single wound without too much time and effort they were working on building his stamina and ability to heal multiple wounds in quick succession. Jeremy had argued against this to begin with as it required Jack to slice his hand and arm open multiple times but the bearded man insisted and despite Jeremy’s careful observations of his face, he didn’t seem to show any signs of great discomfort. Still, Jeremy felt their current set up was more than a little unfair. 

“Could we ask someone else to help? I’m sure Michael wouldn’t mind.” Jeremy asked carefully. He was fairly confident the Dragon would be all too happy to help out given the ferocity he expected from anyone he sparred with. However, Jack chuckled and shook his head. 

“Unfortunately Michael would be of very little help to us. Same with Geoff. Gavin is the only other one we could potentially ask but I’m not sure I’d trust his gag reflex with an activity like this.”

Jeremy frowned and cocked his head, confused, until he remembered something Gavin had said during one of his early sparring matches with the crew. 

“Is it because they’re immune?”

Jack nodded and moved around the bench to sit next to Jeremy. 

“Yeah. As I’m sure you know, all Creatures are immortal, but a few lucky bastards get the privilege of being immune, too. Dragons, Vampires, Demons… they’re all almost fully immune. Some other Creatures like Werebeasts, Naga, Sirens… they have partial immunity. And the rest of us are stuck with Aura shielding and regenerative abilities.”

Jeremy nodded. That made sense. He had assumed that Michael’s ‘immunity’ was just an excellent control over his Aura shield, so Jeremy was pleased to learn that it was an innate gift. It made him feel a lot more pride in his increasing ability to keep up with him. He still required more clarification though.

“So they can’t… take damage?”

Jack chuckled.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s a pretty good way of putting it. They can’t take damage unless it’s from a very specific attack. So, for example, Vampires aren’t immune to wooden stakes.”

Jeremy let out a bark of surprised laughter. He felt Heph’s warmth ignite on his shoulder.

**Honestly. It’s like you forget half the things I teach you.**

Jeremy made a face, mock affronted. 

“When you said a lot of the mythology and folklore humans have is derived from fact I didn’t realise you meant some of it was actually completely spot on.”

Jack laughed.

“You’d be surprised how much of what gets shared amongst humans is true. We do a good job of hiding our existence now but that wasn’t always the case. It’s hard to wipe all the information out there,” he said.

Jeremy absorbed this. Eventually he nodded, but his eyebrows pulled down into a half frown. 

“Still sucks that you have to be the one to hurt yourself so I can practice.”

Jack smiled kindly at him and raised his shoulders in a small shrug.

“I’ve had worse. Plus, us Dryads have some of the best regenerative abilities of all Creatures. And pretty high pain tolerances. Don’t worry about me.” 

Jeremy was confident that he would continue to worry, but Jack’s nonchalance was enough to appease him for now. He let the topic drop, instead focusing on what Jack had just said. 

“So, can you recover from any injury?” It felt like a silly question to ask considering the two of them were both immortal Creatures with inhuman healing abilities, but Jeremy knew that if he ever managed to lose a limb there was no getting that back. At least, not until he was reincarnated into a new body. The question turned Jack’s smile smug.

“Yup. Any injury,” the bearded man confirmed.

Jeremy knew his eyebrows had raised and that it was only fueling Jack’s pride, but he didn’t bother trying to hide it. 

“You can regrow limbs?” he asked.

“Sure can. Takes a bit of time and effort, but it’s possible.”

“Wow… And only Dryads can do that?”

Jack seemed to think about this for a moment and eventually shrugged.

“I think so,” he said. “But Creatures are weird and there are loopholes and strange occurrences all over. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone somewhere has managed it without being a Dryad.”

Jeremy couldn’t help but agree. If he was somehow able to transfer his spirit and consciousness into a new body when he died, it made sense that other equally inexplicable things happened. This thought caused something else to occur to Jeremy. Heph had told him that, in a similar way to how Jeremy could drown, all Creatures were able to be killed, even if only in very odd and specific ways. If Dryads could recover from any injury, then Jeremy was struggling to see how they could be killed at all. He was hesitant to ask, though. Talking about his own possible death made him uncomfortable and he didn’t want to inflict that discomfort on Jack unnecessarily. He realised his conflict must have shown on his face when he looked up at Jack and was met with a puzzled expression. 

“Something on your mind?” Jack asked. “You seem to be thinking awfully hard over there.”

“It’s just…” Jeremy paused and chewed his lip, mulling over his next words. Jack waited quietly. “If you can recover from any injury… then you can’t ever die… right?” Immediately realising how silly the question sounded, Jeremy hurried to explain himself. “I mean, I know we’re immortal, we don’t really just die… but-”

“There are certain ways it can happen, yes.”

Jeremy snapped his mouth shut as Jack interrupted him. The other man sounded a lot more serious and sombre than he had when discussing limb loss. 

“We Dryads, we’re very connected to plants.” Jack sounded like he was reluctant to explain and Jeremy immediately felt guilty for even asking, but he remained quiet and listened all the same. “So connected that we sort of are plants, in our own way. If even the smallest sprout remains, we will regrow and flourish again, in time. But-” the rest of the sentence caught in the back of Jack’s throat and he cleared it before continuing. “But, if we are burnt to ash, so not even a tiny sprout remains… well, not all of us will rise from the ashes.” His explanation was finished with a wry smile in Jeremy’s direction, who was suddenly reminded of something Michael had said when talking about his abilities. He wondered if it was related at all, and figured he’d already crossed the line a while ago in this conversation and voiced his question.

“So Michael-”

“Isn’t allowed to breathe fire, yes. And that is in part due to the amount he produces and his lack of control - wouldn’t want him accidentally burning down the penthouse - but, it’s also partly due to my fear of fire.”

Jeremy winced, remembering his chosen method of getting the crew’s attention. The conversation lulled briefly; Jack seemed to have little else to say on the topic. Compelled by his guilt at starting such a difficult conversation, Jeremy managed to stutter out, “I- I’m afraid of water.”

Jack looked surprised at the outburst, but his expression quickly morphed into something concerned and sympathetic.

“The whole ‘rising from ashes’ thing,” Jeremy continued, “it’s not very accurate and I’m not even sure where it came from. We’re firebirds, wouldn’t make sense if we were burned by fire.” Jack’s eyebrows raised. 

“I guess I hadn’t thought about that,” he said. “So… water?”

Jeremy took a deep breath to steel himself.

“We drown. The only way for a Phoenix to die is drowning.” Jeremy watched the gears turning in Jack’s head. Eventually the Dryad seemed to understand the implications of that information and his eyes widened.

“So, you’ve…?”

“Six times,” Jeremy confirmed, and Jack’s face fell. “It’s not so bad, I don’t really remember any of it. But uh… I get nightmares.” The last sentence was little more than a whisper but judging by the crestfallen expression on Jack’s face he had heard loud and clear.

“Oh, Jeremy…”

“It’s fine, really.” Jeremy hurried to reassure him. “I’m okay, I barely get them anymore. I guess I just wanted to say I uh… I get it, y’know?”

Jack smiled a sad smile and laid a hand on Jeremy’s arm.

“You’re a good kid, Jeremy.”

Jeremy returned the smile. However, before he could respond, they were interrupted by the sound of loud footsteps and Gavin skidded around the corner into view.

“Jeremy! We got something you’ll love!” 

Jeremy’s eyebrows shot up, intrigued by whatever the Fae was referring to. He looked at Jack briefly, who gave him an understanding smile and a nod, before following Gavin, who had already disappeared back from where he came. It wasn’t hard to work out where he’d gone, despite the fact that Jeremy had immediately lost sight of him. Light was spilling from the open door of one of the bathrooms and Jeremy could hear the sounds of giggles coming from within. Curiously he peered around the doorframe. 

“Jeremy!” Michael yelled from where he was sitting on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him as he reclined against the wall. He was wearing his characteristic wicked grin and Jeremy had half a mind to worry about where this was going. Gavin was perched on the counter, his back to the mirror, and laid out next to him were various boxes and bottles. He was almost vibrating with excitement and Jeremy bit back a laugh.

“What’s all this?” He managed to get out. Gavin’s excited grin grew wider and just a tad sly.

“Hair dye! Just like I said!”

It took Jeremy a moment to remember what he was talking about but eventually it came to him.

“Rimmy Tim colours?” He asked, a matching grin growing on his own face. Michael laughed from the floor, almost doubled over with the force of it. He sputtered something along the lines of “such a dumb name” but Jeremy was too excited to care. Gavin nodded vigorously and held up two of the boxes. 

“I was thinking purple sides, orange top?” The suggestion set Michael off with a new round of snickering and this time Jeremy joined in.

“Let’s do it,” he said, taking off the hoodie he was wearing. “It sounds fantastic.”

  
~

Jeremy quickly learned that neither Gavin nor Michael had ever used hair dye before, which surprised him. He assumed that any immortal being would experiment with things like that, after all, hair grows back, and a few months with a terrible hairstyle was nothing to someone who would live for centuries to come. Michael shrugged, claiming he didn’t have any interest. Gavin had cast a quick illusion and turned his hair bright green, which had all of them howling, and that was all the explanation Jeremy needed. Twenty minutes later they were all cursing their lack of knowledge. Gavin’s hands were purple despite having scrubbed them raw in an attempt to get it off, and Jeremy was confident his shirt was ruined, but the dye was in, and they all slumped onto the floor of the bathroom to wait. 

Michael turned to look at Jeremy, a considering look on his face. Jeremy only raised an eyebrow in response and eventually Michael snorted and shook his head.

“You’re gunna look fucking ridiculous,” he said.

Jeremy grinned, but didn’t bother responding. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, all fairly worn out from the effort of laughing as they struggled to coat Jeremy’s hair with dye. But silence never lasted long with Gavin around. He hummed thoughtfully before voicing what was on his mind.

“What do you think the group from Aegis will be like?”

It was a question Jeremy had asked himself multiple times already. It was the day before they were set to meet the group they would be working with, and everyone seemed to be avoiding the topic. Jeremy suspected it was because they were all so used to working as a small crew and suddenly joining close forces with another group was fairly atypical. The Fakes were much more than an ordinary criminal gang, and Jeremy understood the hesitancy they had towards letting people into such a tight unit. They had made an exception with him, which Jeremy would forever be grateful for. However, it was comforting to know his curiosity about the new group was at least shared by Gavin. Jeremy peered at Michael, and was quietly happy to see the same curiosity on his face too. 

“Geoff said they’re one of the elite squads, so they’re probably pretty good at what they do,” the Dragon supplied. 

“I wonder if any of them are rare Creatures,” Gavin mused. Michael scoffed and poked at Gavin with his foot. 

“Idiot. You’re currently sat in a room with two rare Creatures. Are we not cool enough for you?”

Gavin huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’ve known you forever boi. The novelty wore off centuries ago.” He paused. “Jeremy’s cool though.”

Jeremy laughed as this earned Gavin a series of halfhearted kicks. He always felt strange when the others commented on his rarity, and was thankful that Michael was around to at least make him feel less like an oddity. Gavin raised a good point though, it would be interesting to see what Creatures made up this elite squad. Still fighting off Michaels feet, Gavin continued his ponderings.

“Maybe they’ll have a Siren… I haven’t met one in decades, that would be fun.” 

Michael finally gave up the fight and shrugged.

“No way to know really,” he said. “Probably won’t be a Dragon though.” It was obviously meant to be said lightly, but Michael’s tone fell flat on his last sentence and both Jeremy and Gavin frowned. Jeremy had picked up pretty quickly that Michael could be sensitive about the loss of all the Dragons. While the slaughter happened before he was born, it was obvious he still felt the loneliness that came with knowing you were one of the last left of your kind. In that respect, Jeremy didn’t envy him. While Jeremy was fairly sure he might never encounter another Phoenix, it didn’t feel like a loss the way Michael’s situation did. 

“I sort of hope they don’t have a Vampire.” Gavin’s voice fell as flat as Michael’s had and suddenly Jeremy felt very lost. Even more so when Michael gave Gavin a look he couldn’t interpret. Gavin seemed to know what was meant and crossed his arms defensively. “Well not all of them are as nice as Geoff,” he huffed. With a sigh, Michael raised his hands placatingly.

“I’m confused. What’s wrong with Vampires?” Jeremy asked cautiously. Gavin’s face twisted and he looked imploringly at Michael. In return, the Dragon looked intently back at him as if trying to search every inch of the Fae’s expression. Whatever he was looking for he must have found and after a small but firm nod, he turned to Jeremy.

“Vampires used to keep Fae as pets. Some of the old royal blood still do.” 

Jeremy was caught off guard by the blunt delivery of what was a very unpleasant fact, but he was beginning to understand that Michael rarely minced his words.

“Oh,” was all he could come up with in response. 

“These days it hardly ever happens,” Gavin said carefully, “but it’s hard not to worry.” He gave a wry smile. Jeremy wasn’t sure what to say. It seemed that every Creature had their own history and culture, and Jeremy’s knowledge, even with Heph’s input, barely scratched the surface.

**_I don’t know why you’re so surprised. Humans have many different cultures and an extensive history. Why would Creatures be any different?_ **

Heph made an excellent point and Jeremy felt embarrassed that he hadn’t thought about it. 

_ Human history is just… out there. I can’t go google Vampire history and culture… I guess I just forgot how little I know. _

Heph didn’t respond and Jeremy realised the bathroom had fallen quiet too. This silence was far less comfortable and he kicked himself for asking too many questions. As he desperately tried to think of a way to lighten the mood, the phone on the floor beside him went off. All three of them jumped at the sound of the alarm, and Gavin bashed his elbow on the corner of the counter beside him. 

It was as if the sombre moment had never happened and the three of them were thrown into a fit of laughter at Gavin’s expense. Jeremy turned off the alarm and pushed himself off the ground.

“Alright. Time to wash this off and see how it looks.”

Gavin and Michael scurried out of the room, Michael still chuckling and Gavin clutching at his elbow, and Jeremy closed the door behind them

It didn’t take very long to rinse the dye out and Jeremy enjoyed watching the murky orangey brown of the mixed colours run down the drain. Once he was dried and dressed he took a towel to his freshly coloured hair and went to unlock the bathroom door. He paused with his hand on the handle when he realised he could hear the muffled sound of giggling on the other side of the door. Carefully, he turned the knob and slowly opened the door. He poked his head, still covered by the damp towel, out of the bathroom and was met with the sight of four grinning faces.

“Oh,” he said, pleasantly surprised. “You’re all here.”

“Of course!” Gavin exclaimed. “We didn’t want to miss the big reveal.” The others nodded in agreement and, resigned to his fate, Jeremy opened the door wide enough to let them in. The five of them squeezed into the bathroom and Gavin resumed his perch on the countertop. They all stared expectantly at Jeremy who began to feel a bit self conscious with everyone so intently focused on him. 

“Uh… it’s still damp,” he warned them.

Michael huffed.

“No shit.”

Jack nudged Michael and turned to Jeremy with a smile.

“We know, but we still want to see,” he reassured.

Gavin nodded eagerly and bounced on his hands. Jeremy was still a little overwhelmed by their enthusiasm, but regardless, he shrugged and pulled the towel off his head. 

There was a beat, and then the room exploded with laughter.

“It’s so obnoxious!” was the first thing Jeremy managed to make out from Geoff. Jack seemed incapable of forming words and had half slumped against the wall. Michael only briefly paused his cackling to yell “holy shit!” and Gavin’s laugh had devolved into breathless squeaks. It was contagious, and once Jeremy caught a glance of himself in the mirror he couldn’t help but join in.

**_It certainly is bright._ **

Heph’s voice was half amused and half disgusted and it only made Jeremy laugh harder. He almost missed what Gavin said between gasps for breath.

“That’s brilliant Lil’ J!” he wheezed. Jeremy cocked his head in question, still giggling enough to prevent him from forming a coherent sentence. The others seemed to have heard too and the attention of the room settled on Gavin. “Yeah!” he enthused. “Lil’ J! It’s your new nickname. Jeremy was too long.” 

The proclamation set the others off again but Jeremy felt like he’d been stunned into silence. Every day the crew made him feel more and more like he belonged, and every day it took his breath away. The casual way Gavin had said the nickname, as if he used it all the time, sent warmth spreading through Jeremy’s body. It had happened so quickly that he barely had time to process it, but these four idiots, falling over each other in a cramped bathroom as they laughed at his ridiculous hair colour, had become his family. And the best part was, he kind of believed they felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look all I'm saying is that the opportunity for a pun in the chapter title was too good to pass up. I'm back with stupid shenanigans and too much world lore, and ready to FINALLY move this plot forward in the next chapter. To everyone still reading, I love each and every one of you to the ends of the earth. Thank you for supporting me through this very slow journey. As always you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/jusst_you_wait) and [tumblr](https://jusst-you-wait.tumblr.com/) and I'm more than happy to chat.


	11. Chapter 10 - Oath

“I’ll be honest, Geoff,” Gavin said, not turning away from the window he was pressed against for a second. “When you said we were meeting them at the top of Mount Chiliad, I sort of thought you were joking.”

Michael snorted from beside Jeremy and, not for the first time since this car ride had started, the Phoenix lamented the fact that he was stuck in the middle seat. There was a weary sigh from the front of the car. 

“Well, I wasn’t,” Geoff said. “That really is where we are meeting them.”

This was enough to pull Gavin’s attention away from the world rushing past outside. He leaned towards where Geoff was sitting in the passenger's seat, briefly apologising when a stray elbow dug into Jeremy’s thigh. 

“Why Chiliad?” Gavin asked. Geoff pinched his brow and his voice was strained when he answered.

“Because, Gavin, it’s an easy-to-find landmark away from any populated areas. We don’t have to give them a location directly linked to us, but we also won’t have to deal with any prying eyes. Why else do you think we’re meeting them at one in the morning.” This answer seemed to appease Gavin and he wiggled back into his seat. It almost made Jeremy laugh, how unphased the Fae was with Geoff’s less than patient response, but he suspected they all knew Geoff was just stressed, and not actually frustrated with them.

_ Or, perhaps he’s just too excited to care. _

Neither Gavin nor Michael were very good at concealing the excited energy that thrummed through both of them; it was partly why Jeremy regretted volunteering to take the middle seat. Neither of them were able to sit still, and on top of the constant jostling and elbowing, being stuck in the middle of their playful shoving matches was quickly wearing Jeremy’s patience thin. It wasn’t that Jeremy wasn’t excited, far from it, but the constant stress radiating from the front seats, mixed with his own anxieties, made it hard for him to be totally on board with the carefree playfulness of the two either side of him.

The morning had brought bad news that had set Jeremy’s nerves on edge. One of the crew’s contacts had been killed. It wasn’t anyone close to the Fakes - an owner of a shady bar who sometimes had helpful information - but it was the first time someone had been outright killed just for knowing them. It had clearly shaken Geoff, who had been tense and snappy all day. Suddenly, everything had felt more real, and it was harder for Jeremy to push the looming threat to the back of his mind. Whatever the motivation, this group wanted to hurt the Fakes, and their immortality seemed less and less of a guarantee of safety. Jeremy knew having more people on their side would be better in the long run, especially other Creatures, but the idea of working with people they didn’t know at a time like this didn’t sit well with him. Geoff, despite his obvious anxiety, seemed totally confident that this group wouldn’t harm them, which was the main thing keeping Jeremy calm. If Geoff was willing to trust them, Jeremy would be too.

The rest of the car ride was mostly quiet. The closer they got to the mountain, the more the air seemed to thicken with nervous energy. It was cloying, and as they started their ascent up the steep dirt track that would lead them to the summit, Jeremy desperately wished he knew how to dispel it. Gavin was constantly shifting beside him, as if the simple act of sitting still was too much to bear, and Michael’s thigh brushed up against Jeremy’s own with every bounce of the Dragon’s leg. So focused on the two men beside him, Jeremy forgot to pay attention to the road ahead; a mistake he became immediately aware of as the car lurched and he was violently thrown forwards. 

Smack!

His head collided with the divider between the front seats, and everyone in the car froze. 

Michael and Gavin erupted into laughter.

“Jeremy! Oh my god, are you okay, Jeremy?” Gavin asked between his splutters. Jeremy touched his tender forehead. He hadn’t shielded in time, so it would probably be bruised for a couple minutes before it healed, but it was nothing Jeremy couldn’t deal with. He nodded at Gavin to reassure him. Michael continued to cackle and, realising what had happened, Geoff and Jack joined in, chuckling quietly from the front seats. The tension had been broken and Jeremy breathed a silent sigh of relief. 

The lighter mood stayed as they continued upwards; the three in the back giggling like children as they were tossed around by the uneven track. Eventually, the car crested the top of the hill, and Jeremy was squished by Gavin and Michael, who were both leaning in to see out the front window. 

“Is that them?” Michael asked. Jeremy grunted as he took an elbow to the stomach and Gavin apologised between giggles.

“I assume so,” Geoff answered. Michael and Gavin continued to shove each other to get a better view and Jeremy gave up on seeing anything, resigned to waiting until they were out of the car. Jack came to a stop and the five of them paused for a moment. It was like they all realised that this could be the last moment they shared as just the five of them for a while. Jeremy felt strangely nervous about that. He had come to see the crew very much as his family, and he hoped that working with this new group wouldn’t change anything. But, he was also excited. A chance to meet new Creatures? Definitely not an opportunity Jeremy was going to shy away from.

“Alright assholes,” Geoff said, breaking the silence. “Everyone get out.” The moment was gone, and Gavin and Michael both scrambled for their doors. Jeremy grinned at their antics and clambered out after Michael. Jack and Geoff had moved up, coming to a stop facing what Jeremy assumed was the Aegis group. Michael and Gavin bounded over, easily falling into place beside them. Suddenly struck by a sense of shyness, Jeremy hung back a little. He carefully moved up behind Jack, and peered around the larger man’s shoulder. 

The first thing Jeremy noticed was their numbers. There were five of them, and the balance somehow managed to put Jeremy at ease. There was movement, and one of them stepped forward. He appeared to be in his late twenties, looking similar in age to Michael or Gavin, but Jeremy knew that hardly reflected how old he actually was. He carried himself with an unassuming casualness, but his eyes were sharp, and focused intently on the Fakes. 

“Hello,” he said, his tone friendly and light. “You must be the Fakes.” He grinned, and Jeremy had to fight down a blush at how charming it was. He was dressed well, too, which certainly didn’t hurt. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up, revealing toned forearms, and the black waistcoat and slacks complimented the shiny dark hair pushed back off his face. 

Geoff nodded and stepped forward, extending his hand.

“Yeah, I’m Geoff.”

The other man laughed in response, but took Geoff’s hand in a firm grip.

“Oh, we know who you are.” His eyes glinted as he spoke. “It’s an honour to finally meet you. I’m Trevor.”

If Jeremy hadn’t been closely watching the two of them, he might have missed the brief hint of curiosity that flickered across Geoff’s face. It was gone in an instant, and the neutral expressions settled back into place, but Jeremy suspected that this man, Trevor, had managed to catch Geoff off guard. 

**_I must admit, he is certainly not what I expected either._ **

Heph’s comment made Jeremy immediately curious, but he pushed it aside for later as Geoff started talking. 

“Well, Trevor, as it seems you know who we are, I think it’s only fair you share some information about who you are… well,  _ what _ you are.”

Trevor seemed to be expecting this request and inclined his head politely.

“Of course.” He had closed his eyes as he lowered his head and as he finished speaking, they opened, and his head snapped up. Gone were the dark brown eyes from seconds ago. Instead, Jeremy found himself looking into the eyes of a snake. The whites were gone, swallowed by a deep rust red that shone with the reflected lights from their ar. His pupils - before, round and wide - were slits; dark gashes through the middle of what could have been two jewels. Jeremy gasped, in both surprise and awe, and for a second those eyes met his; penetrating gaze boring into his own, before it was gone, flicking back to Geoff.

“I am a Naga,” Trevor said. He watched Geoff, whose eyebrows curled upwards before eventually the Vampire nodded, satisfied. Trevor smiled, but it did nothing to soften his reptilian stare. Belatedly, Jeremy realised that Trevor had yet to blink after opening his eyes. It was disconcerting, and Jeremy was almost thankful when the Naga closed his eyes again. They opened, and they were back to being the dark, human eyes he had started with. Part of Jeremy was disappointed; the snake eyes had been such a beautiful colour.

“Might be handy to have a Naga around,” Geoff said, and Jeremy wondered what he might be referring to. All Heph had told him of Naga was that they too had the ability to shift forms, taking on the lower half of a snake. He knew there would be an opportunity to ask questions later so he continued to try to suppress his curiosity. Trevor’s smile had grown with Geoff’s words and was bordering on smug now. 

“Two Naga,” he said, and turned toward the rest of his group behind him. “Alfredo here is a Naga too.” He gestured to one of the men and Jeremy did a double take. The man Trevor had indicated - Alfredo - looked so similar to him that at first glance, Jeremy might have sworn he was seeing double. But no, the differences became more obvious the longer he looked. Where Trevor’s skin was pale, Alfredo’s was warm and brown. His face was softer, as if someone had taken Trevor’s hard, angular features and rounded them, ever so slightly. He was dressed far more casual than Trevor, sporting a red leather jacket with two white bands on either arm, and blue jeans. The Aegis group appeared to have travelled in two cars and Alfredo was leant against the side of one of them, arm resting atop the barrel of a very large rifle that he had stood upright next to him. It seemed an odd choice of weapon, considering they were all Creatures, and Michael must have thought the same. 

“Nice gun,” he remarked in a dry tone. Alfredo snorted, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. 

“Don’t worry, it’s not for you.” His tone was equally dry and Jeremy turned to see the smile he knew would be on Michael’s face. The Dragon was always pleased when someone gave back whatever they got from him. Geoff cleared his throat pointedly and Jeremy snapped his attention back to the Vampire. Despite the only half serious chiding, Geoff’s posture seemed to have relaxed slightly, and Jeremy guessed the easy quips had reassured him that this new group would be easy to work with. 

“So, two Naga,” Geoff said. “And the others?”

Trevor waved a hand towards the man beside Alfredo. He was up against the same car, half sitting on the side of the bonnet. 

“That’s Matt,” Trevor said, and Matt raised a hand in a wave. The contrast between him and the other two men almost made Jeremy laugh. While the Naga were both clean shaven with perfectly styled hair, Matt was almost disappearing under a shaggy beard, and hair that hung almost to his shoulders. He had a pair of glasses perched on his nose, and dark eyes behind them. The grey and white hoodie he wore almost swallowed his slouched frame, and there was a bright blue streak through the front of his otherwise brown hair that Jeremy immediately approved of.

“Hey,” his voice was deep and gruff. “I’m a Witch.” 

Jack, who Jeremy was still half hidden behind, shifted, crossing his arms.

“What do you specialise in?” he asked.

Matt shrugged.

“Mostly making and enchanting stuff,” he answered. “But I’ve dabbled in a lot.”

Jack nodded, and motioned for Trevor to continue the introductions. The Naga smiled and turned towards their other car. He gestured again.

“This lovely Creature is Lindsay.”

Lindsay was leaning against the front of the car, arms folded across their chest. As Trevor said their name they raised one hand to give a small salute. Their dark red hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and they wore a black jacket over her black and white striped top. Despite the wide smile on their face, they looked strong and intimidating, and Jeremy quickly decided he would do his best to stay on their good side. 

“Lindsay is a Werecat,” Trevor said.

**_Michael will be pleased with that._ **

Jeremy grinned at his spirit’s words.

_ I certainly am. Maybe now he’ll stop complaining that no one understands the struggle of shifting. _

Heph chuckled inside his head.

“And last, but certainly not least,” Trevor continued with a sweeping gesture. “This is Fiona.”

She was perched on the roof of the car, feet planted on the windscreen, with her chin resting on her hand and a lollipop stick poking out the side of her mouth. Her short brown hair fell around her face and she looked at the Fakes through half lidded eyes. The bright yellow jumpsuit she wore complimented her dark, golden brown skin, and even in the low light of the moon she seemed to radiate beauty. With a pop, she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth.

“‘Sup,” was all she said before returning the candy to her mouth. Trevor rolled his eyes at her fondly. 

“She’s Fae,” he informed them. There was a gasp from Jeremy’s left and Gavin excitedly squeaked, “really?!” Fiona stared at him for a second before her bored expression curled into something a little more animated. She said nothing, but it definitely seemed like the enthusiasm for meeting another Fae was shared. 

Geoff gave the Aegis crew a sweeping scan, eyes analytical. The rest of the Fakes watched him, patiently waiting for him to speak. Eventually, he nodded, and his posture relaxed even more. 

“Alright then,” he said. “Now we know who you are. You said you know who we are so,” he spread his arms wide, “drink us in.” Michael snorted and Geoff gave him a playful glare. The sound of Trevor clearing his throat caught their attention. 

“Hmm, well,” he began, and his tone set the Fakes on edge. “You seem to have acquired someone new.” 

Nine pairs of eyes locked onto Jeremy. Jack shuffled to the side so that the Phoenix was no longer half hidden.

_ Well… this is uncomfortable… _

**_I believe they want you to introduce yourself._ **

Heph’s wry comment was hardly encouraging. Jeremy glanced desperately at Geoff, craving some sort of reassurance that introducing himself was the right move, and when the Vampire gave him an, albeit small, kind smile and a nod, he grit his teeth and took a calming breath.

“My name is Jeremy,” he said and paused briefly to gauge the reaction. None of the expectancy in their gazes faded and he had to bite back the sigh that threatened to fall from his lips. 

_ Of course it’s not my name they care about. _

He felt Heph give a derisive snort.

**_No, but you knew that already._ **

Feeling wholly unprepared for whatever reaction he was about to receive, he gave in.

“I’m a Phoenix.”

Jeremy hadn’t known what reaction to expect, but he was confident that even if he had guessed a hundred times he wouldn’t have ever assumed anything that even resembled the reaction he received. Trevor’s mouth curled into a self satisfied smirk that Jeremy had no way of even attempting to understand. The others were more subdued, expressions shifting into various shades of unreadable, but there was a lack of the one emotion Jeremy was fairly confident he would have received; none of them were even remotely surprised.

_ They knew. _

**_It seems a fair assumption to make._ **

Jeremy’s eyebrows pinched.

_ Why did they ask? _

Heph paused, clearly thinking.

**_I’m not sure even I could guess at that._ **

This response threw Jeremy, and his spirit’s unexpected confusion set him more on edge than the strange response had. One of the Naga pulled him from his thoughts.

“How old are you… currently?” Alfredo asked. It was not at all a question Jeremy had expected and in his surprise he answered on autopilot, without considering that maybe that wasn’t information he should give away so easily.

“About four months,” he said. The Aegis crew shared a look between them that again Jeremy could not decipher, but he got the distinct, unsettling feeling that this information was also not news to them.

**_Curious._ **

_ Geoff did say that they had been watching the city for a while… _

Heph hummed.

**_It is strange that this watching may have involved you._ **

There was a note of… something in the firebird’s tone, but Jeremy sensed that if his spirit suspected anything at all, the idea had barely formed and it was probably best to let Heph think. Besides, the unexpected responses seemed to have raised the hackles of the rest of the Fakes as well, and that seemed to be a far more pressing issue.

“Why do you care?” Geoff’s voice was cold and biting and Jeremy felt warmed by the blatant display of protectiveness. Jack had stepped half in front of Jeremy again, in an attempt to shield him from the Aegis crew if necessary. The shift in demeanour seemed to have startled the Aegis crew and they broke away from whatever silent conversation they were having. Trevor looked embarrassed, as if only just realising how strange their response might have seemed. Alfredo was staring at Jeremy, dark eyes full of curiosity, and the Phoenix couldn’t help but blush under the intensity of his gaze. Trevor, again speaking on behalf of the group, waved his hands in a placating manner. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he stuttered. “It’s just, most of us haven’t met a Phoenix before is all.” His smile was bashful, and Jeremy felt compelled to believe him. The others seemed to be less convinced, and there was a moment of awkward silence as Geoff and Jack eyed Trevor, who in return kept his expression and posture as open as possible. Eventually, Geoff grunted, giving in. He ran a hand through his dark hair and let out a sigh. 

“Fine.” His eyes briefly flicked to Jack, before landing back on Trevor. “Shall we proceed with business then?”

The Naga’s face lit up.

“Oh! Yes!” And in the blink of an eye Trevor produced a knife from seemingly nowhere. Panic shot down Jeremy’s spine like a bolt of electricity, and every muscle in his body coiled, ready to spring into action.

**_Calm yourself._ **

Heph’s voice was amused. Instinctively, Jeremy listened, and tried to force his body to relax. His eyes darted to Geoff, cautious about the Vampire’s response. To his surprise, Geoff seemed unbothered, and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out what looked like a strange wooden stake. 

**_They are swearing an Oath._ **

The realisation washed over Jeremy like a wave, and he finally relaxed entirely, feeling a little bit foolish for having been so panicked in the first place.

_ Oh… _

**_Do you remember what I told you about Oaths?_ **

After a second of thought, Jeremy grinned to himself.

_ Yes! It’s like a Creature law right? _

**_Something like that._ **

Oaths had been one of the first things Heph had told Jeremy about when he had awoken. Heph believed it was important to know so Jeremy wouldn’t find himself agreeing to an Oath without knowing it’s true weight. Oaths were the most binding form of agreement that Creatures could enter into. 

By exchanging blood, the auras of two Creatures become temporarily linked, and neither Creature can do harm to the other without also harming themselves. This exchange is used to add weight to an Oath sworn by Creatures, as a promise made to someone who shares your aura is the strongest kind. Heph had also explained that if an Oath is broken, it is well within the other Creature’s right to kill the Oathbreaker. Jeremy shuddered at the idea of Geoff making an Oath with this group they hardly knew, but it seemed this decision had been made long before their meeting tonight. He bit his tongue and watched the two intensely. 

“Do you remember what we decided?” Geoff asked as he stepped towards the Naga. Trevor smiled his charming smile. 

“Of course.” He held his blade above his palm and waited for Geoff to do the same with his stake. When they were both ready, Geoff nodded, and they both cut open their palms. Jeremy winced, but he was the only one that did. Geoff and Trevor barely acknowledged the deep wounds on their hands and locked eyes once again. In unison, they spoke.

“I vow to assist you to the best of my ability, and I vow never to do anything to jeopardise the safety of either crew.” The Oath was short, but hearing Trevor swear he wouldn’t purposely harm them put Jeremy at ease, and as they shook hands, it seemed the Fakes let out a collective breath, relaxing a fraction more. The handshake was firm and longer than Jeremy was expecting. The two gripped hands tightly, and as Jeremy watched, they both grimaced when a shudder ran down their spines. 

**_The joining of auras can be quite uncomfortable._ **

Jeremy winced sympathetically. Geoff and Trevor finished shaking hands and Geoff gave a satisfied nod, the last of the tension draining from his shoulders. He looked appeased and for Jeremy, it cemented just how much Creatures respected an Oath. The Vampire smiled, addressing all of the Aegis crew now.

“Alright, it’s late, and I’d quite like to get to bed, so if you don’t have anything you would like to address,” he paused and waited for Trevor to shake his head. “Cool. We’ve prepared a floor for you in the tower, you’re welcome to follow us back.”

Jeremy looked at Geoff, surprised, and then, after scanning the faces of everyone present, noted that surprise was mirrored on seven other faces. Only Jack seemed to have expected this and he stepped forward, coming to stand at Geoff’s side.

“We thought it would be more efficient if we were all staying in the same place,” he said, and the corners of his mouth curled upwards. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of room to spare.”

Trevor blinked once before turning to face the rest of his crew. He cocked his head and there seemed to be an entire conversation that transpired only through glances. Eventually, Lindsay nodded, and they turned to Jack with a warm smile. 

“Thank you, that’s kind of you.” And with that, the five of them began clambering into their two cars. Caught off guard be the abrupt acquiescence, the Fakes stood motionless for a moment before hurrying back to their own car. Gavin made it there first and he held open the door, gesturing for Jeremy to get into the middle seat. Jeremy paused when he saw this and gave the Fae a pointed look. Gavin huffed and quietly grumbled, but climbed into the middle seat all the same and Jeremy let out a relieved sigh. Being stuck between the couple had been bad enough when the mood in the car was tense; now that things seemed more relaxed Jeremy was quite sure he didn’t want to be sandwiched between their mischief. He slid in beside Gavin and made himself comfortable for the ride back. The car was quiet as they began their descent down the mountain, two other cars following closely behind. However, it didn’t take long for Gavin’s self control to snap.

“Geoff, they have a Fae!” he all but squealed. Geoff let out a sigh from the front, but it was fond and Jeremy could tell it was mostly in jest. 

“Yes, Gavin, we were all there, we all heard the introductions,” Geoff replied. Michael snorted and shoved Gavin before reaching to intertwine their fingers. Jeremy smiled to himself.

**_With all the teasing I almost forget how in love they actually are._ **

_ They’re sweet. It must be nice having that with someone… _

Heph only hummed quietly. 

“Could have told us you were going to invite them,” Michael said. His tone was light, but Geoff winced in the front seat anyway.

“I… may have forgotten we hadn’t told you,” the Vampire mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Jack shook his head fondly.

“Well,” Michael said. “I’m glad there’s going to be a full shifter around finally.” He was barely able to suppress a sly grin as he spoke. Geoff sighed, relieved that none of them seemed upset by the surprise, and then started sputtering as he came to some realisation.

“No, no! No. No. Not happening.” 

Michael only cackled and Jeremy felt like he had missed some piece of crucial information.

“You will not-” Geoff continued. “I will not- no shifting inside! Never again!” The entire car erupted into laughter. Jeremy could only imagine the chaos and destruction Michael might have caused in Dragon form if the very mention of the idea had Geoff this wound up. 

The laughter and conversation continued, but Jeremy found himself zoning out, head still at the top of Chiliad. He twisted in his seat to look out the back window. The headlights of the two cars tailing them were blinding in the darkness of the early hours of the morning. Jeremy squinted reflexively and as his eyes adjusted he could just make out two shadowy figures in the front seats of the closest car. From this distance, and half blinding by their headlights, Jeremy couldn’t make out exactly which members of the Aegis crew he was looking at, but his mind drifted to the crew’s apparent leader anyway. Trevor was incredibly charismatic and there was something about him that drew Jeremy’s attention and thoughts to the Naga. He was captivating. 

_ Is that a Naga thing? _

Heph chuckled.

**_No. I’m afraid their talents lie elsewhere._ **

_ Oh… _

He chose not to dwell on it. Instead, his mind wandered to the reaction he had received when revealing he was a Phoenix. 

_ Heph, do you agree that there was something strange about the way they reacted? _

His spirit hummed and considered briefly. 

**_I suspect they may know more than they are letting on._ **

Jeremy frowned. The idea that they were hiding things was not a pleasant one, but he had to assume their motives were justified. After all, Trevor had sworn an Oath to not bring harm to the Fakes. If they were keeping secrets then the information they were hiding mustn’t be anything to worry about. Mollified by the knowledge that this new crew was under Oath to help protect the people Jeremy had come to see as his family, he turned back around in his seat. He was overcome by a wave of exhaustion, and with the excited chattering of Gavin and Michael creating a soothing background noise, Jeremy slowly drifted off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone that has stuck with this so far, and I can't wait for things to start getting exciting now that the rest of the crew is here!  
> ALSO the lovely Cass made everyone in Hero forge which you can see [here!](https://cassthedisastergay.tumblr.com/post/642427591203143680/i-made-jusst-you-wait-rtfa-fics-cast-in) It's super super cool!   
> As always, you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/jusst_you_wait) and [tumblr](https://jusst-you-wait.tumblr.com/).

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Apologies for any mistakes, I don't always catch them all. If you want, you're more than welcome to come yell at me on [tumblr](https://jusst-you-wait.tumblr.com/)!


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